When a Spider comes calling
by Revenaught
Summary: After his identity is revealed Peter's family is killed.  How will this change him and what will he do to the killers?  Graphic violence inside death and revenge slaying. Follows no known continuity. COMPLETE! Re-edited Apr 2011 minor corrections only.
1. Chapter 1 Tragedy Strikes

**When a Spider comes calling.**

**Ch. 01 Tragedy Strikes**

Disclaimer. I do not own any of the characters in this story. I am making no profit from this tale.

Peter Parker wasn't even on the planet when his life was destroyed. Caught up in yet another of the conflicts between the Asgardian God of Thunder and his adopted brother Loki, Peter and various members of the Avengers were all in Asgard foiling Loki's latest plot when disaster had struck. During the last attack by the Mole Man on the city of New York, Peter had missed a man with a cell phone capturing his change from Peter Parker to Spider Man. He had swung off to help the Fantastic Four save the city again never realizing his Spider Sense was buzzing from the amateur camera man not the invading creatures belonging to the Mole Man.

The man, realizing what he had, had gone straight to J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle with his video, not giving the slightest thought as to the possible consequences of his actions. The next day the Bugle scooped all other news services and revealed the secret identity of Spider-man as their own photographer Peter Parker. Journalist rushed to the homes of Mary Jane Parker and May Parker, but they could not find either of the women.

Two days later the bodies of two women were left tied to flag poles on the Daily Bugle building. The bodies were so damaged that the only way they were identified was through DNA testing. Autopsies on the bodies revealed stories of abuse, rape, and torture so heinous that even well-seasoned coroners used to dealing with the results of violent crime on a regular basis had to leave the room to vomit after realizing what had been done to them.

Four days later the absent members of the Avengers and Spider-man reappeared in Avengers Mansion. They had just started a quick debriefing meeting when Jarvis called Captain America and Iron Man aside and spoke with them in hushed but urgent tones. The looks of shock and then grief that appeared on their faces worried everyone left at the table. Tension rose in Spiderman as the two heroes left Jarvis and walked toward his end of the table. Rising to face them he tried to ease the tension with a quip.

"What's up guys? Did the world end while we were away?" it sounded lame and forced even to him.

"Son" Steve Roger spoke up, "a guy with a camera phone got a video of you changing to Spiderman during the recent Mole Man attack and sold it to the Bugle. The paper ran the story while we were gone." The news hit Peter like a blow from the Hulk and he blurted out.

"Aunt May! Mary Jane! I've got to go!"

"Peter" Steve said grasping the already moving man's shoulder with a tone in his voice that had fear gripping Peter as he whirled back to face Steve Rogers, "when they realized what had happened Tigra and the Wasp went to get your wife and Aunt but they were already missing."

"Then I still have to go! I have to find them!" Peter's fears leaped even higher as he saw the sorrow deepen in their eyes at these words.

"We were too late Peter. Four days ago their bodies were left where they could be found. They're dead and I'm sorry but their deaths were…" Steve shuddered, "bad." The terror gripping Peter drained from him at these words. In its place was a numbing grief and a horror at what must have been done to the women he loved to make a man like Steve Rogers, a veteran of World War II, shudder in horror at the thought of how they had died.

"I have to go." Peter said in a toneless voice as he started to walk to the door. Tony Stark still in his armor except for the helmet quickly grabbed Peters arm.

"I don't think you should leave just yet." Before Steve or Tony even had a chance to realize what was happening Peter had snapped a vicious side kick straight into the sternum of Tony's armor and the Man of Iron found himself flying across the room from the force of the blow.

"My God! I think he cracked my chest plate!" was the amazed thought that flitted through his mind as he landed in a heap on the other side of the large briefing room. He lay there silently wishing he had his helmet on to see the diagnostic reports while he waited for the breath that left him from the force of the kick to return. Peter continued walking toward the door.

"Peter!" Steve called out, "I need you to stay for a bit. Just long enough to get a grip on yourself." Peter continued to walk. "Please don't make me stop you son." Steve asked him but Peter just kept on walking. With no more words or warning Steve threw his shield at the back of Peter's knees planning on knocking him down. The silent shield flew toward its target but did not strike. Without showing any sign of awareness of being attacked Peter simply side stepped the shield and leaning over slightly placed his palm dead center of the shield and using his ability to stick to most any surface caught the shield easily despite its being hurled with all the force Steve Rogers was capable of. Peter gently leaned the shield against the wsall by the door and looked back.

"I have two funerals to arrange. Your wrong if you think you can stop me." Peter said in a quiet dead voice. The rest of the Avengers in the room stood up to try and stop him when Captain America waved them back.

"I understand. Please let us know if we can do anything." Peter simply nodded once and walked out of the room and out of Avengers Mansion.

One Week Later

The funeral service for May Parker and Mary Jane Parker was held at the Avengers Mansion. Peter had asked for that location in hopes that it would be safer for any civilians who happened to show up for it despite the obvious risks of being associated in any way with Peter Parker. When word of the pending services spread through the super hero community requests to attend started flooding into the Avengers compound. Janet Van Dyne, The Wasp, approached Peter with the list of those who had already asked to attend and asked of any of them were on his guest list.

"I don't have a guest list." Peter said in that dead voice that was all anyone heard from him anymore, "anyone who attends is in danger of attack from my foes. I won't stop anyone who wants to be here but I won't ask anyone to put themselves in harms way."

"Will you allow me to handle this part of it then? I promise only those wishing to cause no trouble will be allowed to attend."

"Yes. Do what seems right."

"Thank You." Janet paused with a tortured look on her face, "Peter I…"

"Stop!" at Janet's gasp of surprise he continued, "you're about to try and apologize for not being in time to save them yes?" At her nervous nod he went on, "You have nothing to apologize for. You went alone, not knowing who you might end up facing. For that you get nothing but my thanks. Tigra already tried this too and I told her the same thing. I will accept no apology from either of you for something that was out of your control. Now if you don't mind I need to take care of some things." Janet knew a request for solitude when she heard it so she let him leave with no further conversation. However she wondered how anyone with eyes that dead could speak like he had to ease someone else's pain.

The results of allowing Janet that much control over the event were revealed on the day of the service. With so many people, heroes and civilians alike, attending that even the palatial grounds of Avengers Mansion were barely able to contain them all. The service went off peacefully as any villain who had thoughts of causing trouble took one look at the amassed power just waiting to lash out at anyone foolish enough to interfere and promptly fled and kept running for days afterwards.

Finally it was over and Peter Parker was finally alone in the house where he and his Wife and Aunt had lived. Alone, with no one to intrude upon him, he could finally stop fighting the numbness that was trying to rise up and swallow him whole.

A knock on the front door roused him. He had been so far gone from reality that he was unaware that a full day and night had passed since he had collapsed and let the numbness overtake him. The knock came again and he heard a voice call out claiming to be from the local overnight delivery service. By the time he shed enough apathy to go to the door, the deliveryman had departed leaving a small package on the doorstep. He returned to the living room and opened the package. Inside was a single DVD type disc and a piece of paper that had the words, To help you remember, printed on it. He stared at the disc numbly for a while and then in slow motion he turned on the T.V. and put the disc in the player.

The disc opened with Aunt May sitting on the couch starring in dismay at a news story on the television reporting on the shocking revelation by the Daily Bugle that Spiderman was in fact Peter Parker. Showing all the while a video clip of Peter changing into his costume and swinging away. May could be heard to gasp, "Oh Peter! Why didn't you tell me?" Just as Mary Jane burst through the front door yelling.

"Aunt May! Come on! We need to leave now!"

"Oh! M.J. you should see what they are saying about Peter on the T.V.!" May gasped startled by the sudden appearance of Mary Jane.

"I know all about that which is why we have to go now before it's too late!" But it was too late. A small orange sphere flew into the room and lands between the two women. Billowing clouds of green gas erupt from it obscuring the them. As the gas disperses it reveals the Green Goblin holding a woman under each arm staring directly at the camera. He then starts to laugh maniacally as he runs out the front door, leaps on his glider and flies off out of sight. The scene goes dark and as it fades back into view Peter sees his Wife and Aunt hung from handcuffs and suspended in air, swinging slowly back and forth. The harsh voice of the Green Goblin is heard.

"Now that you have met our damsels in distress lets meet the stars of our show." The camera pans back to reveal eleven other villains standing around the room. As the camera pans over each of them Peter mumbles their names.

"Shocker, Carnage, Chameleon, Doc Ock, Electro, Hobgoblin, Kraven, Mysterio, Rhino, Scorpo/Venom, Tombstone." Then the voice of the Green Goblin is heard again.

"Now that the cast has been introduced let the show begin!" The following scenes of the various villains doing their best to outdo each other in torturing, abusing, raping, and defiling the two women are something that no sane man should have to witness, much less someone who loved the victims. Mercifully his Aunt was too old and frail to withstand such physical abuse and she died in short order. However that did not save her body as every outrage that was done to one was done to the other regardless of the status of the victim. Over a day later after Mary Jane's last gurgling scram of inconceivable pain was cut short and her horror filled eyes glazed into death the scene again faded to black. When it brightens again it shows the view of the two brutalized and mangled corpses hung from the flagpoles of the Daily Bugle building. The voice of the Green Goblin is heard for the last time. "Remember this Peter Parker. This is the true price of being a Hero!" The scene again fades to black

Peter Parker sits in dried up bile. This was all his stomach had in it to throw up during the viewing, as the images of the torture of his loved ones overwhelmed him. His eyes however are no longer dead. Sometime during the past day his overwhelming numbing grief had vanished to be replaced with the blazing fires of rage. This rage is what showed in his eyes now, a rage that burned away all traces of the old Peter Parker. All that was left was the rage. But the flames inside weren't hot enough. He needed more! He reached forward and hit play restarting the disc.

The final scene again faded to black. The man who used to be Peter Parker still sat in the same spot in front of the T.V. The rage that had blazed in him was no longer evident though. During his second viewing of the disc the fury had reached a peak and then had frozen and grown cold and hard. His mind was clear of the all-consuming flames and he knew who his enemies were and exactly what each of them had done. Every despicable act had been committed to memory and he knew what he had to do.

First he cleaned himself up. Then he fueled his body. He was not hungry but he would need his body fit and strong for what he needed to do. Then he went to his room and opened the closet where his red and blue costumes where hidden. He took one complete suit and made a compact bundle of it and then took the rest of them and burned them. That Spiderman had died in the same blaze of fury that had destroyed Peter Parker. He then took one last look at the home where Peter Parker, Mary Jane, and Aunt May had lived and left. Never to return.

To be continued. Next chapter Preparation


	2. Chapter 2 Preperation

When a Spider comes calling

Ch. 2 Preparation

It amazed him how easy it had been to track down Mac Gargan who he still thought of as the Scorpion even though these days he was bonded to the Venom Symbiote. Clinging to a wall above Gargan as he walked down an ally he called out, "Hey Venom!" The man below whirled around his clothing changing into the familiar black and white symbiote suit. But as soon as he saw who it was the symbiote peeled back from his head.

"Well, well if it isn't the new widower! What are you doin here? Why aren't you cryin in a corner somewhere?"

"I'm not here to talk to you Gargan. I'm here to talk to your…Other.

"Ha! Not a chance! I'm in charge here. It's mine now. I…" Gargan broke off as the Symbiote started slowly moving to engulf his head again. "Hey stop that! You obey m…." his voice became garbled as his face was completely covered by the symbiote. The gaping jaws and snake like tongue formed in the face and a different voice from Gargan's emerged.

"What dos the Spider want with us?"

"You know what was done to my Wife and Aunt?"

"Yes! I was not pleased with it. I wished you pain for your rejection of me, but not like that. They were innocents. But my current host desired it. I left him for that time."

"Is Gargan really that weak that you can completely control him like that?"

"Yes! He is weak minded and easy to dominate. He cannot even comprehend why anyone would refuse the power I offer. I am his drug and he is willingly and slavishly addicted to me. Now what is it you want of me? Have you come to destroy us for our part in what happened?" at this Spiderman dropped lightly to the ground in front of Venom. He held out one hand palm facing Venom.

"No I'm not here to punish you. I will deal with Gargan later. Right now I'm here to offer you a deal and I want you to cover my hand so you can feel the truth of what I'm offering." At this the symbiote slowly stretched out a part of itself and covered his hand. Not long after it had done so Venom fell to his knees, the symbiote writhing and rippling over Gargan's body.

"Ah!" it cried out, "your pain! How do you live with such pain? I thought the pain of your rejection was unbearable but it was nothing compared to this! And the hate! You hate me so! Why?" the symbiote asked sounding wounded.

"You know my pain. You know what I have to do. I want your help to do it. So I am offering a deal."

"What deal?"

"You leave Gargan completely. You bond with me but allow me control and never try to dominate my will, and…you forgive me for rejecting you in the past."

"You ask for much. What do you offer in return?"

"I will bond with you completely and never reject you again and I… I forgive you for doing nothing to help my Wife and Aunt. For standing by and allowing it to happen even if you didn't participate." Venom hissed at this.

"You offer much as well, and you mean every bit of it with no reservations."

"I also meant what I said about me being in control. After I've done what I have to our existence may be a very unpleasant one, if we're still alive that is."

"I accept."

"Then do it." With that the symbiote started flowing off of Gargan and once more moved to cover the man who used to be Peter Parker. It could be seen seeping out of the very pores of Gargan's skin as it removed all trace elements of itself from his body. As the last bit flowed off of his head Gargan screamed!

"No! I won't let you leave! I need your power!" and he lunged for the retreating symbiote. Much as he had Ironman, Spiderman lashed out with a foot and caught him with a blow to the chest so fierce it flung Gargan down the alley where he hit a wall, stunned and barely conscious. A follow up burst of organic webbing hit him before he could fall and left him adhered to the wall with his feet off the ground. "No! Give it back! I'll kill you for this Spiderman!" The black clad figure slowly walked toward him the symbiote rippling and smoothing as it rebounded to its first and most desired host. As it stopped in front of him it had solidified into the black bodysuit with the large white spider spread across the chest its legs meeting the ones of the similar one on his back.

"Spiderman, Peter Parker, Venom? They are no longer. You may call me Spider." The chill in those words made the short hairs on the back of Gargan's neck rise. As the being in front of him announced its new name, a spot of bright vivid red appeared in the center of his spider emblem. It slowly flowed outward like a spreading pool of blood until both spider emblems, front and back, were a vivid blood red. The white eye lenses slowly changed to red as well. "And Gargan I will be back for you later. You might want to prepare yourself." And then he was gone and Gargan felt the cold of the grave seep into him as Spider's last words finally sunk in.

"Hmmm…" Spider thought to himself as he looked over the strewn bodies of the AIM soldiers and technicians that had tried to stop him from entering this research facility, "that was easier than I expected."

"It is our bonding." Thought his Other. "Such is our merging that together we are three times what you were before, and that is more than you realize. You had twice the strength and speed you thought you had but deep down you feared it and blocked half of it. Only in moments of extreme duress would you access your full abilities. Only in those few rare moments when life and death of others hung on the line did you become everything you were capable of being. You burned away those restraints and came to me at your full strength and now together we are so much more."

"Good. Now let's see if this place has anything we can use." Later after his search he removed all the AIM personnel and webbed them up outside sent a message to SHIELD to pick them up and trashed the place. As he was leaving he thought, "Well we found a couple of things but still need more."

"Where to find what we need?" asked his other.

"Well if science can't produce what we need maybe magic can."

Nicholas Scratch was communing with the mystical forces that were his means to power, trying to discover a way to increase his powers so that he could finally defeat his Mother Agatha Harkness. From behind him a hand reached out of the shadows and gripped his shoulder in an unyielding grip as a cold voice said.

"Hey Scratch, I have a deal for you." Scratch tried to jump away from the touch and whirl around to confront the person who had invaded his lair but the iron grip on his shoulder could not be budged.

"Who are you?" he asked clearly unnerved.

"You might have known of me as Spiderman."

"Parker! I heard about that. Hell everyone heard about that." He fired a mystic blast at the form hidden in the shadows behind him but a tug on his shoulder ruined his aim and the bolt missed its target and smashed a set of shelves set on a far wall. He conjured some light overhead and was about to fire again when the iron grip on his shoulder shook him just hard enough to sink home the fact that so long as that hand remained locked on his shoulder he wasn't going to get a clean shot off. Just as he was about to take more drastic measures to escape, the black and red clad figure spoke again.

"Knock it off Scratch! You're wasting both our time."

"Look Parker I didn't have anything to do with that! I wasn't involved!"

"Of course you weren't. If you had I wouldn't be talking with you now. Instead of just holding your shoulder I would have ripped your arm off and shoved it up your ass so far you could pick your nose from the inside."

"Ok that's a disturbing image even for me. So you're not here to attack and don't seem to be here to foil my latest, evil plot. Why are you here?"

"I need a couple of items. Things my normal mystic contacts would be, unwilling, to supply me with."

"Look Parker I'm sure you're a likable enough fellow but I don't work charity cases."

"I could offer you your life but it's easier to make this a straight business deal. It just so happens that I'm prepared to pay and pay well for quality work."

"So what's to prevent me from giving you bogus items? It's not hard to guess who and what you want them for. Some of those people might be able to track such items back to me and they would be very unhappy with me. Besides you and I are traditionally on opposing sides."

"Three reasons. One the only side you take is your side. You could care less about anyone else. Two, you only get half the money I'm offering up front. The rest will be handed over after they have been successfully used. Three, if you try and screw me over I'll find you again and do things that will make my earlier promise seem tame."

"Fair enough, what do you need and what are you offering for it?"

"For payment I can offer One Hundred million in untraceable funds siphoned off of AIM."

"One Hundred million? What the hell could you possibly want that would be worth that much?"

"Relax! I don't need anything major or end of the world. I'm simply counting on your greed to ensure you do quality work to get the second half of that money."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd be that cynical. Although considering why you're here in the first place it makes sense. Ok Parker what do you want?"

Parker is dead I'm just Spider now. As for what I …" Spider broke off as he noticed something lying on a shelf across the room. "Hey isn't that Thunderstrike's Mace? I thought it was destroyed when he died?"

"Yes it is. I acquired it after he died using it to destroy the Bloodaxe. I had hoped to siphon off the mystical energy associated with it but that was all used up. Now it's just a virtually unbreakable mace made of Asgardian Uru metal, of no use to me at all. You can have it if you like. It's just taking up space."

"I think I will. Now as for what I came here for…"

Later after their business was concluded and he was leaving Spider thought to himself, "Ok that's all the preparation, now it's time to get to work."

"Yes!" agreed the symbiote, "It is time."

To be continued. Next Chapter Hobgoblin


	3. Chapter 3 Hobgoblin

When a Spider comes Calling.

Ch. 3 Hobgoblin

Roderick Kingsley used stolen items and technology, created by Norman Osborn, to enable him to act out his desire to be a costumed criminal. He had never had so much fun at it as he had lately though. As the Hobgoblin he had been part of the group that had done unspeakably vile things to May and Mary Jane Parker. So brutal had been those killings that Peter Parker, who had disrupted his plans time after time as Spiderman, had completely disappeared. Crime had soared lately as a result and Hobgoblin was on his way to steal a shipment of diamonds he had heard about to celebrate. Suddenly a wad of something hit his face and stuck there completely obscuring his vision!

"What the…?" he slowed his glider and started trying to remove whatever was blinding his eyesight but it wouldn't come off! Finally in frustration he threw back his hood and peeled off his Hobgoblin mask. Just as the mask cleared his head a dark shape came out of nowhere and knocked him off his glider and into free-fall. Crap that hurt! Who was attacking him? That could wait first he had to live. He summoned the glider and it caught up with him just before he hit the ground at a speed that would have been fatal, even for his goblin serum enhanced body. "Who did that?" he yelled as he recovered his balance and started looking for his attacker. He still hadn't seen anyone when a stunning blow to the back flung him forward off his glider again. The ground rushed up and slammed into him and he skidded along its surface before grinding to a halt. Looking around dazedly he could still see no sign of his attacker. Summoning his glider again he quickly raced away from the high-rise buildings that his attacker seemed to be using as cover. He had just cleared a small park when something hit his glider and blocked its exhaust. It quickly stalled and once again he was dumped rudely to the ground. "Alright!" he called out as he stood scanning in all directions, "You grounded me! Now do you have the courage to face me directly?" At that moment a large patch of shadow directly in front of him shifted and straightened until it was recognizable as a black clad man with a blood red spider emblem on his chest and the same blood red eyes on his mask. "Gargan, what are you playing at? Nice color change on the suit though."

"I'm not Gargan." A cold chilling voice emerged from the mask.

"So who's unlucky enough to host that symbiote now and why are you signing your death warrant by attacking me?" For answer the hood slowly pulled back to reveal the face underneath. "Parker, are you that eager for death?" Before he was even done speaking he cut loose with blasts from his gauntlets. He never even came close to hitting his target. The blow to his stomach knocked all the wind out of him, leaving him doubled up on the ground at the feet of his opponent.

"Parker is dead, it's just Spider now." That cold voice said as its owner knelt next to him. Before he had recovered enough to try and move away the Spider had ruthlessly removed his gauntlets and the pouch where he carried all his Hobgoblin weapons and items. "You took great joy in breaking bones on two helpless women. You slowly and methodically broke the bones in their feet one at a time. You were very thorough. Had they survived they would never have walked on their feet again. You now have a chance to see how many of my bones you can break. But you had better try your best because I'm goin to see if it's as much fun for me as it was for you." A shiver ran up Hobgoblins spine as he finally recovered and stood up. This was not what he was expecting from Parker. Wild rage and grief yes but this cold methodical calculation was disturbing.

"Very well 'Spider' we will see if you scream as prettily as your Wife and Aunt did." Hobgoblin unleashed a powerful series of ruthless blows aimed at inflicting maximum damage. His only problem was that none of them landed. He picked up the pace knowing that it had to be just a matter of time before he connected. Then seemingly by accident the Spider's hand flicked out as he dodged and flicked his side lightly. He heard the sound of a stick snapping and felt a flare of pain in his ribs. He grunted loudly in surprise and pain.

"Ah," said the spider, "that is fun. But you haven't screamed yet." Spider's hand flicked out again and broke a rib on the other side. The accompanying grunt turned into a moan of pain the Hobgoblin couldn't quiet suppress. "Now I'm two up on you, you're making this far too easy. I suggest you try harder." Gritting his teeth together Hobgoblin lashed out only to miss and receive several heavy punishing blows in return. His next attempt resulted in more heavy blows to his body and an almost surgical strike that shattered both bones in his forearm. A hiss of pain escaped his lips as he kicked out desperately trying to gain some distance. He needed room to try and escape what was quickly becoming a very bad situation. However a smashing blow destroyed his kneecap in mid kick and his eyes started to bulge even as the leg came down and he instinctively tried to support his weight on it. The scream ripped from him as his weight came down on the shattered knee and he collapsed on his side. Fresh screams broke loose as he landed on his broken arm and rib. The simple act of inhaling more air to scream louder doubled the pain in his broken ribs. "Yes! That is satisfying isn't it? I wonder how many I can drag out of you before you can't scream anymore."

"Ok, you win," Roderick gasped, "take me to the police. I'll go quietly."

"Oh no, that's something Parker would have done. I told you Parker is dead. Spider doesn't want you to go quietly. I want you to scream right up to the end."

As the heavy blows resumed Roderick Kingsly's last coherent thought, before the screams took over to their counterpart of snapping bones, was that he had helped in breaking a hero. In doing so they had created something far worse than they had ever imagined.

When the screams had dwindled to sobs of terror and pain and then those faded away into gurgled labored breath, Spider stood and watched as Roderick slowly choked to death on his own blood pouring into his lungs. When it was over Spider turned and walked away.

Daily Bugle Headline.

Hobgoblin found beaten to death!

Police have no leads yet in this brutal killing.

To be continued. Next chapter Tombstone


	4. Chapter 4 Tombstone

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 4 Tombstone

Tombstone hated being sent on penny ante jobs like this one. But hammerhead was the boss and if he wanted him on this job to make sure there were no problems, well so be it. It's not like it would be a hard job. He didn't even have to kill anyone. Not that he would have minded that, but this was a simple switch and burn. Hammerhead had some priceless items in this warehouse and he wanted them switched with fakes and then he wanted the whole place burned down so he could collect the insurance. Twenty men had been sent along to do the actual work. Tombstone just had to supervise the proceedings. He almost wished a hero would stumble on them so he could have the pleasure of killing them. But, he wouldn't do anything to draw attention to them. Hammer would pay triple if there were no complications on a job. Ah well time to get to work he thought.

"You two go open the truck and get ready to off load it. The rest of you spread out and search the area. We don't need any surprises." Tombstone ordered in the hoarse whisper that was his loudest speaking voice. The two so ordered ran out back to take care of the truck while the rest immediately spread out and started searching the area. Whatever they thought of their assigned tasks they kept to themselves. Tombstone was no one they wanted mad at them. His albino skin, inhuman strength, imperviousness, and that frightening voice that never rose above a whisper were bad enough. But it was his teeth, filed to very sharp edged points that truly unnerved the men assigned to him. Rumor had it he enjoyed biting those who really pissed him off. No one wanted first hand proof if the rumor was true. The two men sent to open the truck, came running back clearly agitated.

"Tombstone!" the first called out in a low voice, "Someone's here, they spiked the trailer door shut! It won't open!"

"Well," replied Tombstone, "the night just got interesting. Come with me." The two followed him back through the loading dock to the back of the truck they had brought and sure enough someone had driven a spike into the metal of the door and bent it over the latch that would need to be released before the door could be opened. Tombstone laughed softly. The spike might have interfered if only regular men were here tonight. But he easily reached down and wrenched the spike from the truck door. He unlatched the door and opened it. "Come on you two get the rest and get this job done. Spread the word, we have a trouble maker in the area." But as they re-entered the warehouse and looked for the rest of the men, they could find no sign of them anywhere. Tombstone's temper was quickly rising. One of his two remaining men was beside him and the other was across the warehouse in one of the few pools of light. Tombstone waved him back and watched as he disappeared into one of the many patches of deep shadow. Tombstone heard nothing but the man never reappeared! "What the…" he said as he took a few steps toward where the man had disappeared. "Did you… Holy Crap!" he exclaimed as he turned to the man beside him only to find that he too was now simply gone. "Ok that's spooky!" Tombstone thought to himself. "I wonder if that's what others feel when they deal with me?" then as loud as he was capable of he said, "Are you gonna show yourself or keep playin hide and seek all night?" He wondered if whoever was there could hear his whispering voice.

"Don't strain yourself yelling. I can hear you just fine." A cold emotionless voice seemed to come from all directions.

"Nice theatrics. Care to come out and face me directly or are you trying to set me up for a surprise attack too?" A dark shape detached itself from the nearest pool of shadows and moved to the center of the nearest patch of light.

"No Lonnie. You I will meet face to face and you will wish I hadn't."

"Gargan? What the hell do you think you're doin? You may have that freaky ass alien slime now but that doesn't give you the right to bust up someone else's gig."

"No not Gargan. Try again."

"You sound familiar. Wait a minute, Parker?" Tombstone ended on a disbelieving note. "I thought you had crawled away and died somewhere!" The black face mask with its blood red eyes pulled back and then recovered Spider's face before he replied.

"Parker did die. I am Spider now and I am here for you."

"Aw! Have I upset you somehow?" Tombstone asked in a mocking voice.

"Yes you have. I have vowed that you shall feel those teeth of yours pierce your skin just like my loved ones did. Before this night is over I shall keep that vow."

"Well, isn't that melodramatic? It's gonna be fun watching you try to keep that little promise." Tombstone dropped into a fighting crouch and waited. He was determined to make the little bug come to him this time. To his surprise Spider did just that. There was no jumping or crazy acrobatics that always frustrated him. Spider simply walked straight up to him and stood toe to toe staring up into Tombstone's face. "Well if you're gonna make it that easy" he said as he threw a heavy blow into Spiders abdomen. He expected Spider to gasp and double over with the wind knocked out of him. Tombstone was the one to gasp however as Spider stood there completely unfazed by his blow. As Tombstone pulled back his fist he noted that the inky blackness that covered Spider had bunched up where his fist had landed. "That damned alien thing cushioned the blow!" he thought. Then he was knocked breathless by Spiders return blow. "Damn! This might be a little more interesting than I thought it would be. How'd he get so strong?" the thoughts raced through his head. Aloud he said, "Heh, not bad but you're gonna have to do better than that."

"Ok." Spider said and then the two began trading blows. Tombstone gave it everything he had but he couldn't overcome the cushioning effect of the alien symbiote. But while Spiders new strength was enough to rock Tombstone, he wasn't dealing any real damage to his amazingly hard skin. Just when Tombstone was starting to feel confident again Spider stopped hitting his body and started on his face. He found out that his teeth, while just as invulnerable as the rest of him, could be knocked out. He quickly found the need to spit several out or swallow them by accident!

"Damn it!" Tombstone spit out along with another tooth. "Gonna kill you for that!"

"No you won't. Your time is just about up. Are you ready?"

"For what? You may have knocked a few teeth out but other than that you can't hurt me!"

"Not even when I do this?" Spider asked and before Tombstone could react, Spider had closed the distance between then and reached down and grabbed Tombstones scrotum and squeezed with all his new found might! Tombstone's vision went white as the mixture of nausea and overwhelming pain racked his whole body. All strength left his limbs as he collapsed and he was only barely aware that everything he had eaten that day was coming back up. Sometime later as he slowly became aware of more than just the sickening pain in his mangled testis, Tombstone realized he was flat on his back with his arms straight out to either side. Webbed securely to the floor he quickly gave up trying to free them as any movement sent agonizing pain shooting up from his scrotum. Just then the black clad figure with the blood red eyes and spider emblem knelt down next to him. "It's time to keep my vow. Are you ready?" Tombstone noticed that Spider held one of his teeth in his right hand.

"No! Get away from me you free…Aaaahhhhhhh!" The hoarse almost soundless cry ripped out of Tombstone as the tooth proved to be sharp enough and hard enough to puncture the skin of his upper right chest. Another cry was ripped from him as the next tooth pierced the skin of his stomach and was pushed in all the way. It lodged in the muscles of his stomach and caused sharp flaring pains each time he so much as twitched. The scream of pure agony from Tombstone as the final tooth was plunged into the bulge just above his scrotum would have given nightmares to anyone who heard it, if his vocal cords had been able to produce a sound louder than a whisper. Spider just sat back and let Tombstone scream himself out as he smiled beneath his mask. Shortly Spider walked away and did something out of sight and then Tombstone saw him walking back toward him with his hands behind his back. "No! Please! I'll do anything you want Just please stop!" Lonnie Thompson Lincoln begged.

"Don't worry Lonnie," Spider answered, "all I want you to do now is die and I'll do all the work." Spider pulled the Thunderstrike Mace made of mystic Asgardian Uru metal from behind his back. Lonnie eyes widened in horror as the first viscous blow flashed downward toward his face. His legs jerked as the blow landed with a dull thud. Again and again the terrible blows flashed downward and his body jerked and jumped with each of them. Suddenly with a sharp crack, following the latest blow of the mace, Lonnie's legs stopped moving. But the increasingly wet sounding thuds continued for a long time. When he was finally done Spider stood looking at the corpse for a long time, then he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

TOMBSTONE FOUND DEAD!

His Brutally Beaten Corpse Found In Warehouse Owned By Hammer Industries

To be continued. Next Chapter The Rhino.


	5. Chapter 5 Rhino

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 5 Rhino

The Rhino was heading towards the entrance of the empty warehouse he was using as a hideout at full speed when a line speared out from between two buildings and tagged his right foot as it was extended behind him. As that foot flashed forward the line pulled it just enough so that it caught on the back of his left leg. His forward momentum caused him to fly forward and slam on his face and slide half a block to crash through the doors of his hideout. He came to a halt when he hit a large support pillar which cracked ominously when he hit it.

"Oh somebody's going to pay for that! I'll find them if it takes a week!"

"You won't have to look all that hard. I'm right here." A voice said from the doorway. Rhino whirled around and saw a black clad figure, adorned with blazing blood red eye slits and spider emblems, walking along the wall away from the door.

"That you Parker? Changed your look a bit huh? What are you doin out? Didn't you learn the lesson we gave you?"

"I did learn a lesson. I learned that good can be repaid with evil and I'm about to teach you that evil can earn even more evil."

"Ha! Parker you were lucky to live through our other fights. You aren't capable of teaching me anything but how to laugh at how puny and weak you are!"

"I shall teach you how to feel fear and pain as someone you have no hope of stopping does anything they want to you. The same lesson you took such delight in teaching to my Wife and Aunt."

"Sure sure runt. I'll stand right here and let you try to teach me something. But when you fail it'll be my turn."

"Very well, first I will teach you pain." Spider used his symbiote to form a very hard spike on the end of his right fist and with his new strength punched it through the Rhino's super tough hide and into his abdomen. Quickly he retextured the surface of the spike to that of very coarse sandpaper and twisted it in the wound before dragging it back out. Blood poured freely from the non-fatal wound. The Rhino cried out in pain as he staggered back with a hand clenched over the hole in his side.

"I don't know how you did that but you're going to pay for it right now!" Rhino laid about him with vast roundhouse blows trying to connect with his foe, for all the good it did him. For all the speed his enhancements had given him he couldn't even touch Spider much less hit him.

Uh uh," said Spider as the Rhino continued to flail wildly, "I haven't finished your lessons yet. Here, I'll continue with pain." Every time Rhino would throw another wild haymaker Spider would punch another spike home, twist it, and pull it out again. Soon rhino was covered in bleeding wounds none of which were deep enough to damage vital organs but all very painful. Finally frustrated and wracked with pain Rhino turned to the doors he had crashed through earlier and tried to escape from his seemingly untouchable opponent. Having been waiting for just this moment Spider formed a spike on his foot and scored a direct hit on the Rhino's planted foot. In the short time the spike was in his ankle instead of roughing the surface Spider expanded more sharpened spikes from it cutting and slashing muscles and tendons. Completely unable to support his weight on his ruined ankle Rhino howled in pain and collapsed. "Now you know pain. Next you will learn fear." When the Rhino tried to stand on his good foot Spider treated that legs knee the same way he had the ankle and again Rhino crashed to the ground bellowing in pain from his savaged joints. Spider then doubled his pain by destroying his remaining knee and ankle. Rhino screamed in terror at the irreparable damage being done to his joints.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! I'm begging you to stop!" Aleksei Sytsevich pleaded.

"My wife begged you to stop as you raped her. I will give you just as much mercy as you gave her."

"No! Please don't!" Aleksei's pleas didn't stop his wrists, elbows, and shoulders from receiving the same treatment as his knees and ankles. Completely unable to move while feeling the agonizing pain from his ruined joints every time his muscles twitched caused Aleksei to break into whimpers begging. "Please don't kill me. I'm sorry. Don't kill me!"

"Don't you know enough to realize I already have? You're dying as we speak. You will bleed out completely but it will take some time."

"No! Please I'm sorry! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! Please! I don't wanna die!" Aleksei broke completely then, babbling repeatedly the same thing over and over.

"And now you have learned fear." Spider stood and watched as Aleksei slowly bled to death and stared into his eyes as they fixed on one point and glazed over as life fled. Then he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

RHINO FOUND SLAIN!

Falling out among thieves or Vigilante slayer?

To be continued. Next Chapter The Scorpion!


	6. Chapter 6 Scorpion

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 6 Scorpion

"So Gargan, I see you dug up an old scorpion suit. Do you really think that's going to be enough to save you?" The cold voice Mac Gargan had dreaded ever hearing again called out from behind him. He spun around lashing out with the barbed tail that was attached to his armored Scorpion suit. His attack failed though as the Spider was safely out of range.

"What do you want now?" Gargan asked. "You already took the symbiote away from me."

"And you helped take my Wife and Aunt away from me. Now I am here to take your life away from you."

"Ha! I've worn that thing too. I know its weak spots!" Gargan yelled as he pointed his tail and unleashed a barrage fire from it. Dodging and leaping nimbly out of the path of the fire time and time again the Spider seemed amused.

"It is true fire can be a problem for it but the fire has to hit it to hurt it." The coldness in his voice gave the lie to any appearance of amusement in his evasive movements. After a few more moments of timing the blasts of fire, Spider clogged the fire emitting nozzle at the end of Scorpion's tail with a well-aimed wad of webbing shot from his old mechanical web shooters. However the origin of the webbing was completely missed by Gargan.

"That won't save ya Parker! The symbiote's webbing is as vulnerable to fire as it is. I'll burn that out in no time." The blast of fire Gargan triggered not only didn't burn away the webbing but like a rifle with a clogged barrel it exploded as the internal pressure became too great to contain. The blast was enough to knock Gargan down in a daze.

"That would be why I whipped up a fire proof batch of webbing for my old web shooters before tracking you down." Spider said as he stood there and watched Gargan slowly climb back to his feet.

"I have other ways to kill you." Gargan said as the destroyed flame nozzle was ejected to clatter on the ground between them. A large curved spike popped out, a few drops of a clear liquid apparent on its tip. "Die Parker!" Gargan yelled as he lashed out trying to impale Spider with his tail spike. He had as much luck with it as he'd had with the flame thrower. Even with his powered armor on he was no match for Spider. His situation grew even worse as a badly timed blow on his part allowed Spider to get behind him and gripping his tail launch a kick at Gargan's back that threw him across the rooftop they were fighting on. His mechanical tail however was still in the Spiders hands, sparks flying out of the base and twitching like a headless snake. Slowly standing Gargan realized his armor was totally powerless due to the damage from the kick and loss of the tail. It was now no more than dead weight slowing him down. He quickly hit an emergency release catch and the separate pieces fell away from him leaving him clad in one of his early cloth Scorpion suits minus the tail. "It's only the symbiote that's giving you the edge! If you really want revenge try me without it! But you won't! I was always stronger and faster than you without it!" Gargan taunted desperately. His jaw dropped as the symbiote flowed away and formed a shadow like figure standing off to the side of the two men, leaving Spider standing in street clothes of jeans and a t-shirt.

"I figured you would try that angle and we discussed it beforehand. The symbiote isn't really pleased with killing a former host, even one as pathetic as you. You found that out when it wouldn't let you kill Eddie Brock. But it understands that one of us is going to die here tonight. It has agreed to temporarily leave me removing all of its enhancements. It will be just you and me with our base physical abilities. If you can kill me it will even re-bond with you giving you back the power you crave. But you won't be able to kill me. I'm not the untried boy you first fought. You have failed time and time again to kill me, but you finally managed to kill Parker when you helped to torture and rape to death his Wife and Aunt. Here tonight is your last chance to kill what's left of him."

"Shut up and die!" Gargan yelled as he exploded into action. Deep down Gargan was a bully and he was never happier than when he had a physical advantage over someone. He believed he had that advantage now. It had always appeared that he was physically stronger and faster than Spiderman when he had fought him in the past. Every single one of his defeats had been a fluke of luck or the result of a third party intervention. Despite his constant failures to kill him over the years Gargan truly believed he was superior. Tonight the Spider, having burned through his mental restraints on his powers, showed Gargan just how wrong he was. Blow after heavy blow slammed into Gargan's body. He couldn't avoid them and he couldn't block them. They weren't meant to incapacitate or kill, they were meant to punish. To make matters worse the few blows he managed to land were just shrugged off by the Spider. In short order Gargan; his nose broken, his face a bloody pulp with teeth shattered, and his body a mass of bruises from his shoulders to his legs was flailing wildly far more interested in escape. Spider continued until Gargan was barely able to stand in front of him and totally incapable of offering any defense at all. He then used his mechanical web shooters to thoroughly web Gargan to a nearby concrete wall leaving only his face, feet, and hands free. Gargan regained some alertness at this and showed even more fear than before! "Wha…what are you doin?" he demanded, blood and spittle spraying through his shattered teeth.

"You like tying down helpless women don't you Gargan? You enjoy watching them struggle to get free helplessly as you torment them. Conversely you have a fear of being the one bound, of being the one helpless. Don't you?" Spider said very quietly.

"You have no idea what you're doing! Do you? You had to use so much of this damnable webbing to hold me that you can't do anything else to me!" Gargan exclaimed. His panic was obviously rising even as he tried to rationalize reasons not to panic. His normal strength should have been able to break the wall behind him even if he couldn't break the webbing itself. But he'd been so badly beaten and abused during the short but brutal fight that he could no longer do anything but strain futilely against his bonds.

"Oh but I can," Spider said in that same cold calm voice, "and it's all thanks to you." Spider raised the barbed tip of the mechanical tail with its wicked barbed point into Gargan's line of sight. "I had other plans for you but when I saw that this tail had one of your poison tips on it I changed my mind."

"Oh Shit!" Gargan started to struggle harder but was still completely helpless. "Keep that away from me. You have no idea what's in it!" he cried out with hysteria rising in his voice.

"But I do," replied Spider, "a tail similar to this one was sent to Stark Industries for study after one of your captures. They did a very thorough study of the poison used in it. It's as nasty as you are. A nerve agent that causes searing pain as it works its way through its victims system. It will eventually shut the system it's attacking down but will do so very slowly. Allowing the victim hours of agonizing pain before the release of death. Unless the victim is able to get to the antidote stored in the tail, just in case its owner somehow runs afoul of his own weapon."

"Antidote? There's an antidote for it?" Gargan asked with desperation.

"Gargan! You really mean to tell me that you let someone outfit you with a poisoned weapon without knowing there was an antidote for it or where that antidote was kept? You are dumber than you look and that's saying something." Spider swiftly stabbed Gargan with the poisoned barb in both his hands and feet.

"Noooooooo!" yelled Gargan as his hands and feet were already beginning to writhe from the pain of the poison. "Give me the antidote! Please!"

"No" coldly replied the Spider. "But I will give you the same chance you gave Mary Jane and Aunt May. You told them that if they could break free from their bonds they could leave and nothing further would be done to them. They knew you were lying to them but they were already hurting so badly that they tried anyway. So if you can manage to get free I'll let you take the antidote stored in this." Spider dropped the mechanical tail on the ground where Gargan could see it easily but would have to completely free himself to reach.

It should be noted that Gargan truly did try but his abused muscles simply weren't up to the task. His cries of pain soon turned to whimpers as even the movement of screaming increased the agonizing pain coursing through his body. When he could gather enough control he would beg to be released. Beg to be given the antidote. And finally just beg for begging's sake, no longer truly aware of just what he was begging for. Finally just as he was about to completely lose his sanity to the pain it seemed that the Spider had relented. Instead of applying a fresh coat of his webbing to keep Gargan in place as the old webbing slowly dissolved he allowed the bonds to dissolve away and watched as Gargan fell to the ground inches away from his mechanical tail. The shock of hitting the ground jarred him back to awareness and hope as his eyes focused on his salvation, now lying just in reach. He moved to grab the business end of it despite the extra pain moving caused him. He looked at it but had no idea of how to find the antidote's storage compartment much less how to open it. He turned pain wracked eyes to Spider and croaked hoarsely.

"How?" But Spider's silence was all the answer he received. Finally in desperation he used his remaining strength to break open the tail and both men heard a sharp retort from inside the object.

"That would be the security device on the antidote destroying it to prevent it falling into the hands of someone who didn't know how to open it properly. It's gone now and you have no chance left." Spider coldly announced Gargan's fate. The look in Gargan's eyes as he realized he had destroyed his only hope of survival was everything Spider could have asked for. Spider stood and watched as the poison finally finished its job and Mac Gargan aka the Scorpion was no more. He then took the remains of the poisoned spike and pinned Gargan's Body to the wall with it and left it there for the authorities to find. He then looked over at the symbiote still standing apart and said, "It's over. Will you rejoin me?" The symbiote reached a shadow like limb out and touched Spider with it, using the physical contact to allow communication.

"Am I only a means to an end? Will you again reject me when your task is complete?"

"No" Spider replied aloud, "this was the last time we shall ever be separated, at least by my choice. You are my responsibility now and I will not shirk that duty. Only your choice to leave me or a third party forcing us apart through sonic or flame attacks will cause us to separate."

"There is a way to prevent such a separation ever again. But once done it can never be undone by anyone, even us."

"You mean a complete merging don't you? No longer a host and a symbiote but one being where two once stood. You would do this knowing that once done should I die you would too? And my death will happen eventually for if nothing else does time eventually kills all men."

"Yes. I have accepted lesser hosts before but only to survive. Given the chance I would become one with you and be content should the end come the very next day."

"Ok. Let's do it."

"Before we do, take this." A small black sphere was place in the palm of Spider's hand. It looked and felt for all the world like a large black pearl. "This is a true child of mine. Provided its first host is suitable it will not become a monster in need of being put down like Carnage is. It has a shell it cannot break so we will have to do so when we find someone we deem suitable."

"You speak as if this is going to kill you."

"In a way, yes. This will be a true melding but you are the host. Your mental presence and sense of self will remain mostly unchanged. At least I believe this to be true. None of my species has ever done this outside of myth so I'm not positive"

"Then let's find out." Spider reached his other hand out to the symbiote as well and it moved to him and over him. Together they found a quiet spot and spun a cocoon around themselves and became something else.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

SCORPION KILLED WITH HIS OWN STINGER!

Is there a serial killer preying on super villains?

To be continued. Next Chapter Doctor Octopus.


	7. Chapter 7 Doctor Octopus

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 7 Doctor Octopus

In a dark corner of an abandoned warehouse a large cocoon sat silently as the day outside slowly faded into night. As the darkness deepened the cocoon started to shift and bulge as whatever was inside came to life. Suddenly a ripping sound came from it and a vaguely man shaped figure rose from it. The exact details of it could not be seen in the darkness.

Doctor Otto Octavious, now known to the media as Doctor Octopus, was not pleased. The heroes had seen what was done to the women of that traitor Peter Parker. Had the so called Heroes the intelligence of the lowest flea they should realize the dangers of sticking their noses where they didn't belong. So why had Daredevil insisted on trying to stop him from appropriating the funds necessary to continue his scientific research? Did the man want his loved ones tortured to death? If he continued to interfere it was only a matter of time untl his identity was revealed and he too was destroyed. Although why such steps were necessary was a mystery to Otto. Couldn't these unthinking idiots see that he only broke society's so called Laws in order to further his research? It was, for Otto, all about the science. It was with these thoughts foremost on his mind that he entered his hidden lab that was closest to the jewelry store he had just emptied of its most valuable items.

The bags of stolen jewelry dropped from numb hands as he witnessed the total devastation that had been visited on his lab. This wasn't his main hideout, he had many of them spread across the city, but this one still had plenty of very expensive equipment in it. Now all it held was expensive scrap! Whoever had dared to attack his lab had been extremely thorough. There wasn't a single thing left intact in the entire building. He wandered in shock through the devastation dazed by the fact that not only was the machinery destroyed but all the data stored on site had been destroyed as well. He still hadn't gotten over the shock of it when a cold hard voice came from somewhere.

"What a shame Otto. It's a good thing whoever did this didn't know about your other little hidey holes."

"Parker? Is that you, you traitor? Parker how could you?" Otto cried out, disbelief strong in his voice. Parker was a gifted scientist himself! Why would he continually betray his fellow scientist over and over? He had taken part in the death of Parker's women to repay those betrayals. But even with that Parker was scientist enough that he hadn't been the one to do this. Would he?

"Or do they?" the voice answered and then spoke no more. Panic ripped through Otto. His other labs! He had to check on them now! He moved to retrieve the stolen jewelry that might have started to replace what was lost here only to find them gone. He gave a cry of rage at that but hurried out too intent on getting to his other labs to check on them to look for the disembodied voice that surely had his jewelry. Whoever it was, Parker or someone else, could be dealt with later.

Officer Flanagan left the upscale jewelry store, which had been robbed by Doc Ock earlier, and walked toward his patrol car. He had just finished taking the report from the stores proprietor detailing what items had been taken. Even with business insurance a heist of this magnitude had a good chance of closing this store down forever. He wished there was more he could do for the owner than just take a report. Opening the door he looked in stunned disbelief at the bags sitting in the driver's seat of his cruiser. One of the bags gaped open just enough to reveal glints and sparkles from inside. "Oh well" he thought as he picked up the bags, "at least I get to be the one to give them back to him."

Otto Octavious was numb as he swiftly traveled across the city. All his smaller labs had been totally destroyed! How had someone been able to find all of them? The only thing left intact in any of them was one cork board that had held print outs showing that whoever had attacked his facilities had also accessed his offsite data storage sites and irrevocably erased all the information stored on them. They had also accessed his off shore accounts and drained off all his funds! He had to get to his main lab. It was better secured and alarmed. He hadn't gotten a signal on the remote he carried so it had to be safe. Didn't it? But the fear that it had been destroyed like all the rest had him moving slower now not wanting to see his fears brought to life. Finally he reached his main lab and it looked untouched from the outside, but all the others had too. When he opened the door and didn't receive an alarm on his remote his stomach sank and he walked the short hall to the lab entrance with heavy steps. One look inside showed him that his worst fears had proven true. He wandered to the middle of the chaos that was all that was left of his world. Suddenly a great cry ripped from him and his mechanical arms lashed out in devastating blows. With nothing left undamaged he vented his wrath on the pitiful remains of his precious equipment. Unable to sustain his rage forever, eventually Otto collapsed and broke into heaving sobs over the destruction of his life's work. He was at his lowest point, mired in grief when he heard the voice again.

"Hurts doesn't it Otto?"

"How could you?" Otto asked quietly.

"I could ask you the same thing." The voice said from behind him. Otto looked around and saw a figure in light absorbing black with gleaming red eyes and spider emblems on his chest and back. What appeared to be a sword hilt poked up over his right shoulder. "How could you have possibly done what you did to Mary Jane and Aunt May?"

"I had to! You had interfered and betrayed me too many times! I had to make you stop getting in the way!"

"So you joined in with those other animals and helped torture and kill the two people I loved most in my life because I wouldn't let you steal money to fund your research projects? Is that it?"

"Yes! I never stole for myself! I had to fund the science! But you wouldn't see it! No one would ever see it! You would never realize how important it was! I had no choice left any more. I didn't want to have to do it. I held no hatred toward them, but you just wouldn't stop! You wouldn't lie down and die and leave me be! And now you've done this."

"You're even farther gone than I thought Otto. If it's any consolation to you, you did kill Peter Parker. But, as so often happens, you got an unintended result. Peter is dead and gone but Spider has risen in his place. I'm probably no more sane than you are now.

"No! You are far worse than me! You have destroyed everything I have ever done or created. You have completely wiped out my entire life!"

"It's no more than you helped to do to me. Those two women were my life and you helped rip them away from me. Now I have ripped yours away from you. But you're not done paying yet Otto."

"What do you mean? What more can you possibly do to me?"

"I have made you pay for what you did to me. You still have to pay for what you did to Mary Jane and Aunt May. You have suffered my emotional torment. Now before we are done here tonight you will suffer the physical abuse you inflicted on them with those very mechanical arms of yours." This threat was more than Otto could take. With a primal scream of rage he flung himself at Spider, trying desperately to crush his hated opponent. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to hit the constantly moving Spider. Always before, with four arms constantly attacking, he had eventually been able to hit his cursed foe. Today however it was like he was inside Otto's mind and could see every attack before Otto could even start it. To make matters worse he would pick up small bits of debris and hurl them at Otto inflicting small cuts and scrapes at will. Enraged by this Otto furiously doubled his efforts. In answer Spider reached over his shoulder and pulled free the sword from its sheath. He danced back a bit and held it up for Otto to look at.

"You think a mere blade is going to be effective against me?" Otto sneered. In truth he was somewhat nervous about it. It was thicker and wider than a normal sword but ever since he had coated his mechanical arms with adamantium he was confident they were safe. He lashed out with an arm planning on letting Spider take a swipe at it to prove the swords uselessness. It was Otto who was gaping in surprise as the blade flashed out and a foot of that arm fell severed to the floor. "What? How?" was all Otto could get out.

"Your adamantium arms are tough Otto. But a thin adamantium coating like you gave them can be cut by a sharp enough adamantium blade, if it has enough force behind it. Hmmm, it looks like I have enough force." Spider leapt to the attack. Otto retreated flinging bits of machinery at Spider but they all missed and that deadly sword would flash out and another bit of mechanical arm would fall to the floor. Outclassed and knowing it Otto tried to flee but each time he did so a strand of webbing would snake out and catch him and he would be yanked back to the center of the room regardless of whatever he used his mechanical arms to anchor himself to in an attempt to pull away. Finally he stood there with four useless stumps left on his harness, totally defenseless, waiting for the sword stroke that would finish him. He opened his eyes when he heard the sword being slid back into its sheath. He saw Spider bending down and picking up a two foot section of mechanical arm. "I'm not going to use the sword on you Otto. You didn't use one on Mary Jane and Aunt May. This however you did use." Spider started beating Otto with his own mechanical arm then. He carefully gauged his blows to inflict maximum damage without killing Otto who was, without his mechanical arms, just a normal slightly overweight and out of shape human. Finally when Otto was beaten and bloody with arms and legs broken in several places Spider picked Otto up and flung him face down on a waist high bit of shattered equipment with his legs hanging over the edge just clear of the ground. A barely conscious Otto didn't even realize it when his torso was webbed down so he couldn't move. He came to when he felt and heard his pants being ripped away from him.

"No! What are you doing?" Otto choked out his panic rising.

"I told you Otto. You are going to suffer what you did to them. So far this has been the least of it. What comes next is what actually killed my Aunt." Spider dropped the long length of mechanical arm and rooted around until he found a foot long segment with the grasping claws still twitching. Otto's denials and screams grew more desperate as Spider moved around behind him again. Otto started trying to get up or even roll over despite his broken arms and legs until suddenly he threw his head back and howled in pain and agony as Spider followed through with his threatened action. Moving back into the room he found another end piece of one of the mechanical arms and came back to Otto. He leaned down until they were face to face. "Mechanical manipulation appendage manually inserted in the rectal orifice. How do you like that little bit of science Otto?"

"You have become that which you have fought for so long." Otto groaned.

"Not really Otto. There are a couple of vital differences that keep me above and better than scum like you. One, I accept that my actions are my own responsibility and not anyone else. Sure I may be reacting to your actions but how I do so is completely my decision and I will never try to lay those decisions on anyone else. Two, unlike animals like you I have never and will never use or kill an innocent person in the furtherance of my work."

"So you're taking the Holier than thou…Ugh!" Otto grunted in pain as his damaged insides clenched, "Spiderman has become a mere killer!"

"Yes I'm a killer now, and you know I'm ok with that. How many times have I caught you and the rest of them and handed you over to the law? Every time either you escaped or were let go for whatever reason. You did convince me that I had been wrong, just not like you believed I was. Instead of convincing me to go away and leave you alone you convinced me to end the threat you pose to innocent people permanently."

"So we created our own monster." Otto said finally seeing the irony in it.

"Not really. You may have helped provide the incentive but I chose to become the monster. Now I hope you're ready because your time is up."

"Wait. Aahhh!" Otto's pleas broke off in a scream of pain as Spider ground the broken bones of his right arm together. Then while in mid scream Spider shoved the end of the mechanical arm he held down Otto's throat, ignoring the blood from the shattered teeth and dislocated jaw that resulted from doing so. He watched as Otto's eyes bulged outward as he choked to death on his own mechanical arm. When all movement ceased and his eyes glazed in death Spider stood straight and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

DOC OCK DEAD KILLED WITH OWN TENTACLE!

Who will be the next victim?

To be continued. Next Chapter Carnage


	8. Chapter 8 Carnage

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 8 Carnage

Carnage had remained hidden for a time following Norman Osborn's orders. The pleasure of the deaths of Mary Jane and May Parker kept Cletus Kassidy sated for a bit but it couldn't last for long. After a while he desired more blood and death and believed that no one had the right to tell him not to. His trip out for some slaughter and mayhem was cut brutally short however. He had almost collided with the Fantasticar carrying the Fantastic Four while swinging between buildings. Instead of minding their own business they had attacked him on sight. The Human Torch had started things off by hurling flame attacks at him which he barely managed to avoid. Then he felt bands of iron clamp around his torso and hold him suspended in midair. Looking down he could see nothing holding him so he knew it was the Invisible Woman using her force fields on him. But she hadn't encased him in her field, just grabbed him so he quickly fired off several bladed weapons, made from the stuff of his symbiotic other, at her. She was good and managed to block most of them but one got through and clipped her on the head opening a nasty scalp wound and dazing her enough to lose control of the field holding Carnage in place. Carnage had barely avoided the blast of flame let loose from the Human Torch in retaliation for his sister's injury when Mr. Fantastic entered the fray. Stretching out wide he was trying to capture Carnage by engulfing him. For a smart man he was fighting very stupidly Carnage thought as he hurled several scissor like weapons at him. Normally his hurled weapons were released from his control as soon as they were fired, but these he kept control of. When they hit Mr. Fantastic and he stretched his body to absorb their impact Carnage closed the scissors on the flesh bunched in between the blades causing several severe cuts in his torso. So with two of the three members left in the car temporarily out of action Carnage was confident he could focus on the most dangerous member of the Fantastic Four. The flames the Human Torch was flinging about were deadly to his 'Other' and made it nervous but Cletus remained confident and in control. He was managing to avoid the flames and close in to attack range when the Fantasticar barreled out of nowhere and rammed him! The blow stunned him but he managed to flip under the car and hold on while the Thing piloted the car erratically trying to throw him off. Laughing, because the dangerous Human Torch couldn't attack him this close to his team mates, Carnage crawled back and punched a short hardened spike into the engine compartment and was gratified when the vehicle started to stall. Crawling forward to the general area of the seat he had seen the Invisible Woman collapse in after he had struck her earlier he punched a longer spike through the car and was rewarded with a piercing cry of shocked pain. Carnage shuddered with pleasure at the thought of having possibly dealt a mortal blow to the pretty blond woman. As he leapt away from the vehicle he knew it must have been a serious wound because Mr. Fantastic ordered the Human Torch to break off his attack and fly her to get medical attention. Since the Fantasticar was out of commission Carnage easily avoided the remaining land bound members of the Fantastic Four. As he casually made his way back to his lair, echoes of the Invisible Woman's screams replaying in his head, he never noticed when a black clad figure started trailing along behind him.

Carnage was holed up these days in the abandoned basement of an old building that had been demolished and a new structure built on top of its remains. It had a sewer entrance that was almost impossible to find unless you knew exactly where it was. Believing he was alone Carnage was lost in thought replaying the delicious scream he had forced from the Invisible Woman earlier and wondering if he had managed to kill her. He never even knew that someone had emerged from the sewer entrance behind him until an incredibly powerful blow caught him in the back and flung him across the room where he crashed face first into the wall. His 'Other' managed to absorb most of both impacts but enough got through that it was more his symbiote that was holding him up than himself.

"You're making this too easy Carnage", a cold voice said, "I could have killed you already."

"Your mistake was not having done so when you had the chance Parker." Carnage said as he recovered and straightened, slowly turning around. When he had turned far enough around to see his attacker the shock and surprise was evident even on his masked face. "Father? What are you? Wait, why can't I sense you?" The uncertainty of the situation had Carnage hesitating, unsure of what was going on. Since his parent symbiote had bonded with the pathetic Mac Gargan it had seemed indifferent to the Carnage Symbiote. Why was it back with Parker? "And why have you rejoined with that pathetic Parker creature?"

"Your 'Father' and I have reconciled our differences. Our joining together is why you can't sense me any longer, but I can sense you now." Spider said this last with an easily detectible sense of satisfaction.

"Really? Then sense this!" Carnage snarled as he flung his trademarked edged weapons out at the being before him. But even as he started to act Spider pulled a strange bulky looking sword from his back and easily blocked the incoming missiles. "Very nice. You might be a minor challenge for me now Parker. Although probably not. You couldn't take me when you and my Parent teamed up to attack me." Carnage flung a strand of sticky symbiote substance at the sword and tried to yank it from Spiders hands. Shock again showed on his masked face when it didn't even budge. Then Spider pushed a button on the swords pommel and it quickly blazed white hot! "Ow! That hurt!" Carnage cried out as he quickly pulled back the singed strand of his symbiote. "You have a nasty toy there I see."

"You like it? I made a little shopping trip at the local A.I.M. base and picked up a couple of things. You'll also appreciate this!" Spider pulled out a pistol like item, aimed it at Carnage and let loose a devastating sonic blast. The sonic waves caught Carnage in mid crouch as he was about to leap away. It affected his symbiote so much that his leap turned into a fall flat on his face. After a few moments the sonic waves stopped but the Carnage symbiote was completely disoriented so Cletus tried to stall hoping to give it time to recover.

"Well that wasn't very nice. I suppose you're here to arrest me and take me in again, huh Parker?"

"Parker is dead thanks in part to you."

"What? I don't think so. My progenitor has many flaws but he would never animate a corpse! The very idea is perverted! You are Parker and you are alive!"

"I used to be Parker. You may now call me Spider. I am not here to arrest you."

"What, just looking for a random fight then? Ok you found it. You won! Now go away and leave us alone."

"I'll leave but only after I make sure that Mary Jane and May Parker are the last people you ever kill."

"Ha! You've already failed then. I caught the Invisible Woman with a good shot today. I'm betting she won't make it. Besides you can't stop me from killing. You 'Heroes' never have the guts to do what it takes to really stop me."

"If Sue Richards does die she will be your last. Peter Parker may not have wanted to kill you but I'm not him anymore." This announcement in such a distinctly cold voice sent a shiver down Cletus's spine. He found he didn't like being on the receiving end of such fear nearly as much as causing it. Deciding to run away to slay another day and since his symbiote had mostly recovered he bunched himself and leapt over Spider and fled toward the sewer exit and found it totally plugged with a substance he could not get past. Just then another sonic blast caught him from behind, stunning his symbiote and messing with Cletus's own inner ear. He lay still hoping to lure his attacker in and sure enough Spider approached close. Carnage lashed out with an extended blade but he didn't catch Spider by surprise. The white hot blade he carried was turned so that the flat of it caught Carnage's attack and started immediately searing the symbiote so that it retracted in pain. Then Spider kicked Carnage so hard he flew across the room into the far corner where he crashed in a heap. Carnage was dazed and bewildered. He couldn't fathom where this being who now called itself Spider had gotten such power. Neither his parent nor Parker had ever been this strong when he had fought them before. With his newfound strength and the devastating weapons he carried Cletus suddenly realized someone else had the power to do whatever they wanted to him, like he had always felt he could do to others. That realization almost drove him sane! Then Spider was in close and slashing at his leg with the white hot sword. To Cletus's horror his symbiote melted away from the blade leaving his leg vulnerable to a very nasty slash. He screamed from the burning pain of it. Spider then slashed his arms as he reached down to grasp the injury to his leg. Again the symbiote left him vulnerable. Cletus rolled away from the attack trying to protect his inured arms by turning towards the wall. Unfortunately this left his back vulnerable. Spider swung the flat of the blade at Cletus's back and burned both Cletus and the symbiote which didn't flow away fast enough. Writhing in pain, each time he tried to protect one area the terrible blade was there to burn both man and symbiote. Every time he tried to attack or escape the devastating waves of sonic energy would crash over him rendering him helpless again. Finally the symbiote could take no more. It totally separated itself from Cletus and tried to escape and abandon the host that had failed it so miserably. It only got a couple of feet away before another sonic blast stunned it temporarily. Spider stashed the sonic weapon and quickly pulled another item out and tossed it near the quivering red symbiote. A force field sprang from the item and enclosed the symbiote. Realizing it was trapped it tried to break free but couldn't. Spider then turned off the sword and it swiftly cooled turning from white hot to orange to dull red and finally back to its original metal color. Whatever mechanism that was inside it cooled it off as quickly as it had heated it. Spider turned back to Cletus and saw that despite the agony from his many burns he was on hands and knees trying to crawl towards his symbiote. Spider quickly webbed his hands and feet to the floor snaring him completely.

"No!" screamed Cletus. "You can't separate us! You have to let me go to it!" Spider, who had turned away and started gathering scrap wood scattered around the area, looked back at him.

"It wouldn't do you any good if I did. It's already rejected you totally and completely."

"No! It only left to try and defend itself. It loves me and we are complete together!"

"It was only using you. It feeds off your emotions and adrenaline. It would have used you up eventually and left you for someone else."

"Then if that's true why have you taken that one back?"

"Initially I took it back to get it away from Gargan. Of its entire species it is the only one that doesn't believe in draining a host until it is useless and moving on. It looks for a more lasting pairing with a compatible personality. Its race banished it for this and it was alone. Of all the heroes and villains that were pulled by the Beyonder for his little Secret War this symbiote picked me for a partnership not as a forced host. I won't bore you with why as you could never understand. Once I understood this myself we have gone a step farther. We are no longer a host and symbiote. We are now something more… one unique being. One that is about to end you and your symbiote for all the people you have slaughtered. But mostly for what you did to Mary Jane and Aunt May." By this time Spider, who had resumed working as he talked had two substantial piles of wood built up.

"You're going to burn us to death? You have fallen far."

"Maybe I have. At one point in time before you helped torture to death the two most important people in my life I would have agreed with you. Now I wonder if I'm not an ever bigger hero for doing whatever it takes to prevent you from slaughtering even more innocent people." As he was speaking Spider had moved the force field projector so that the enclosed bubble of red symbiote hung in the air about two feet above one of the piles of wood.

"Are you really so eager to become a killer just like me? I thought you opposed all that I stood for?"

"I am a killer now, but I am nothing like you. You believe in slaughter for the sheer pleasure of doing so. I believe that with Great Power comes Great Responsibility. I have accepted that I have the power to prevent you from ever killing innocents again therefore I have a responsibility to act to do so. That I will enjoy doing so, well that's just a fringe benefit this time around." Spider heated up the sword again and moved toward the pile of wood under the symbiote.

"Wait! Don't kill it? Please take me instead!"

"Really? You would really offer yourself in its place?"

"Yes! I would. It has enabled me to truly live my dreams. I can't bear the thought of having to watch it die and being alone."

"How fitting then that you are forced to watch it die helpless to prevent it just as I was. Enjoy." Spider touched the heated blade to the pile of wood and watched the flames start to rise.

"Nooooooooooo!" Cletus screamed until he ran out of breath, then he inhaled and continued screaming as Spider adjusted the force field controls to allow heat energy to enter the bubble but not to let that heat escape. Thus the relatively low temperature of the wood fire, which shouldn't have been able to do more than irritate the symbiote, kept building and building until the symbiote's psychic screams pierced the astral realm. Psychics and sensitive mystics across the planet too weak to shield themselves received blinding migraines and even the strongest of them couldn't completely block the cries of agony from the dying symbiote. Eventually the cries faded away and after a bit longer only ashes remained in the force field bubble. Spider shut down the projector and the ashes sifted down into the coals of the fire that had ended it. Spider then turned to Cletus.

"Times up. Now it's your turn." Spider started tying Cletus to a long spit with bands of metal and placing it on stands about six feet above his pile of wood facing down so he could watch the blaze that would be his last experience in life. Spider again ignited the pyre with his sword and the flames started their task. Cletus whose cries had died down to whimpers at the death of his symbiote was soon screaming in pain of his own and cursing Spider. It wasn't a quick end and it certainly wasn't pretty but eventually it did end. After Spider had made sure that only inert ashes remained of Cletus Kassidy and the symbiote he had bonded with Spider made sure the fires were completely out. Then he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

PSYCHICS REPORT BURNING DEATH OF CARNAGE

Valid reports or mass hoax. Read the reports and you decide!

To be continued. Next Chapter The Shocker


	9. Chapter 9 Shocker

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 9 Shocker

The Shocker was terrified. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to join in on the torture and killing of the women associated with Spiderman. Nothing else had ever seemed to stop that damned wall crawling freak! Hell he had even had him completely helpless once and allowed him to live and he still constantly showed up to get in his way. For a while it had seemed to work this time. Then the people who had been there had started dying. Not only that, they were dying badly. Considering Peter Parker had not been seen publicly since the women's funeral the Shocker, Herman Schultz, had a pretty good idea who was doing the killing. Whether he was right or wrong the Shocker wasn't hanging around to find out. He was headed to the docks and planned on stowing away on the first ship heading out of port. He didn't even care where it went so long as it took him away from here! He was in the middle of the warehouse district surrounding the ports when a disembodied voice called out.

"Where you going Herman?" it asked. Shocker yelped in fear and spun around searching for the owner of the voice, aiming his shock gauntlets at the shadows as he peered into them. "You seem a little jumpy. Were you expecting me?" With shivers running up and down his spine the Shocker realized he still couldn't tell where the soft emotionless and cold voice was coming from.

"Back off Spiderman! I've left you alive before. If you mess with me tonight I won't"

"Too bad Herman. Any goodwill you might have earned by that got wiped away when you helped make sure my Wife and Aunt suffered before they died. But don't worry you will be shown the same mercy you showed them." This cold pronouncement of his fate broke the Shockers nerve and he started firing random blasts from his shock gauntlets hoping to hit or at least slow his nemesis down as he started to flee. He knocked down a few walls but had no idea if he had even hit Spiderman or not until a bit of rubble came winging out of the shadows to clip him on an ankle tripping him and sending him sprawling. He got back up quickly and tried to start running but his now badly injured ankle wouldn't support him and he fell heavily again. He rolled to his back and triggered a wide area blast back the way he had come but realized a moment later as another piece of rubble flew in from the side and shattered his elbow that he was in deep trouble. This wasn't the same Spiderman he had beaten before. He didn't try to close the distance and pummel Shocker this time. He was staying distant and out of sight using the rubble from the Shocker's own blasts against him. He found himself wishing another hero would show up to save him from this one. In short order his legs were useless and the pain of firing his gauntlets with shattered elbows had him screaming in agony. His padded combat suit, designed to absorb the jolts of his own equipment proved totally useless against these bits of heavy debris that were being hurled with such speed and accuracy. Finally a final shard came in and clipped him on the temple and the darkness jumped up and swallowed him.

Herman Schultz regained consciousness hoping he had been saved. He quickly realized that on the contrary his situation had gone from bad to worse, much much worse! First he was suspended by webbing in midair. Second he was completely naked. Third he was suspended over a very nasty metal pole that had a semi blunt end and many barbs and other rough surfaces that looked as if it had come from the darkest nightmare of Vlad the Impaler himself.

"What the Hell is going on man?" Herman cried out.

"I figured it was pretty self-explanatory Herman." Spider said in that cold voice from behind him. Craning his neck as far as he could, he managed to see out of the corner of his eyes a black clad figure with vivid blood red eyes in his mask and a large spider emblem on chest and back in the same hue.

"Spiderman? Is that you? What are you doing? This is hardly your style."

"It's just Spider now. As for what I'm doing, I'm repaying the kindness you showed my Aunt and Wife. The style was picked by you when you used your gauntlets on them to bruise and damage their internal organs and then when you tired of that you climbed on and raped them!"

"Aw come on man! I didn't want to do that! It was either join in or they would have killed me! Believe me!"

"I might but the video of the proceedings clearly shows you laughing every single time they screamed or begged you to stop. If that truly was an act to save your life you can call me a bad critic who just didn't understand your performance. Either way it won't stop whats about to happen."

"Look I'll do anything you want. I'll quit crime. I'll turn evidence! I'll do anything just don't drop me on that thing!"

"I want…you to scream and eventually die." Spider let go of the web line holding Herman up and he fell onto the spike and screamed as it pierced him through the groin area and impaled him on about six inches of the end of it. The webbing binding his shattered arms and legs prevented him from trying to use his shattered limbs to free himself. It also prevented him from falling over sideways. When the initial flare of pain subsided enough for him to be aware of his surroundings again he noticed Spider setting one of Herman's gauntlets so it was aimed at the base of the spike he was impaled on. Spider didn't touch the gauntlet again but it fired suddenly. The pain flared up worse than ever as the vibrations of it caused him to sink another fraction of an inch on the spike impaling him.

"How?" Herman groaned out unable to complete his question.

"How am I using your own weapon against you?" Spider finished his question for him. Herman nodded as another wave of pain ripped through him. "It really wasn't hard. Your tech is inspired but simplistic. I easily rigged a device to it while you were out that will trigger it at whatever interval I desire." Conversation stopped as the gauntlet fired again and Herman screamed until his voice shattered as he sank another fraction of an inch. No more words were spoken as Spider watched Herman sink farther and farther down on the spike. Eventually something vital was irrevocably damaged and his body started convulsing and finally stilled with a gargled sigh as the invading spike pushed the air out of a lung. Spider, who had born silent witness to all of it, looked into Herman Schultz's dead eyes and then turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

THE SHOCKER FOUND DEAD IMPALED ON HUGE SPIKE.

Do more than villains have reason to fear this serial killer?

To be continued. Next chapter Mysterio


	10. Chapter 10 Mysterio

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 10 Mysterio

Quentin Beck, otherwise known as the villain Mysterio, was eagerly awaiting his turn on Spiderman's hit list. He supposed he should think of him as Peter Parker now, but he just couldn't associate that name with the web-crawling opponent he had fought so many times. The number of villains, who had participated in what had been done to parker's women and were now dead, was a pretty good indication that Parker really was Spiderman. But he just couldn't think of him anyway other than as Spiderman. Oh well it didn't really matter he supposed. It was obvious to him that Spiderman was tracking down those involved and doing some really nasty things to them. The news sources and police hadn't yet come to the conclusion that Spiderman was behind the series of deaths but to those involved in it there didn't seem to be any doubt about it. The names of those already dead did rather alarm him but, Spiderman would be coming to him and that put the web-slinger on Mysterio's chosen battleground and he had had plenty of time to prepare. He'd hated Spiderman even since the hero had put a stop to his first scheme where he used henchmen dressed up as aliens to commit robberies. Ever since this, no matter how good his illusions became or how well he advanced his technology, he had been unable to win a true victory. Oh sure he could gain the upper hand temporarily but Spiderman always managed to wriggle out of it. Well not this time! Spiderman was going to be coming in a blind rage and Mysterio knew how to take advantage of that.

The front doors to Mysterio's complex burst inward! Mysterio smiled as he watched the black and red clad figure stride boldly through the doorway. Apparently he was in such a rage that his vaunted Spider Sense hadn't warned him about the clear and odorless gas that was released when the doors were forced. The gas, a mild hallucinogenic to help with his illusions, also deadened Spiderman's Spider-sense.

"Beck! It's time to die! If you come out here now I'll make it quick and relatively painless!"

Hmmm… I wonder." Mysterio said to himself. He entered a different command on his central board than he had planned on starting with and sent a LMD (Life Model Decoy) of himself in street clothing out to meet with Spiderman.

"Spiderman", the LMD said as it approached, "please don't kill me. I won't resist. Take me in! I can't bear the shame anymore. I never should have done it and I'm so sorry!" the LMD broke into sobs as it said the last and approached the last few feet.

"It's just spider now! Spiderman and Peter Parker are dead thanks in part to you. I'm not here to take you in only your death will repay the smallest part of what you've done!" Spider grabbed the LMD and started a vicious beating on it that broke ribs and shattered teeth. Both arms and legs were broken and after a few more punishing blows Spider lost his patience with the beating and grasped the LMD's throat and, holding him off the ground, slowly started choking him to death. When the LMD had stopped twitching Spider threw it to the wall where it hit with a sickening thud and crumpled to the floor its broken limbs bent in places human bones just weren't supposed to. "Quit hiding and face me yourself Beck!" Spider yelled. Mysterio was surprised! From the viciousness of Spider's attack he had thought him fooled by the decoy. Ah well, it would be more fun to make him run the full gauntlet anyway.

"You can do what you want to me, if you can get to me." Mysterio hit some controls and released a wave of LMDs that appeared to be local gang members. "Of course I have a few friends here that would rather you didn't." A small group of the gang members moved away to cover a door at the far end of the large room. The rest of them moved in swinging clubs, chains, and assorted bladed weapons. Mysterio had kept this group of LMDs to strictly human levels of strength and speed in an attempt to ensure their believability as real humans. But there were enough of them that they should have been very hard for Spiderman to get through them based on Mysterio's previous research on him. He soon realized that there was more to the name change than he had assumed. Spiderman would have pulled blows that would have killed normal humans, he was weak like that. But this 'Spider' was not holding back. He was wading through the thugs as if he was taking a Sunday stroll but with every lightning fast flick of his hands or feet gang members went flying broken and bleeding to land motionless and still. Mysterio felt a small tremor of fear as he wondered just how out of control Spider's rage had made him. By now Spider had eliminated all opposition between him and the door that had been protected by the small group of gang members. With a savage kick he destroyed the door and fell prey to what appeared to be a black hole. Spider's instinct to adhere to the floor to resist its hold on him was foiled by that very piece of flooring not being attached to the rest of the floor. That section went with Spider through the vortex firmly attached to his feet. He was pulled through what appeared to be a tunnel in space and time and suddenly found himself at one end of a long building that appeared oriental from the architecture and décor and very dimly lit.

"If you live long enough to get out of the house you just might discover something you want more than my blood." The disembodied voice of Mysterio said. Considering the décor Spider was not surprised when ninjas emerged from the shadows. Armed with an incredible array of martial arts weapons they swarmed over Spider and did their level best to chop him into little chunks. Allowing for the rigorous training ninjas were supposed to undergo Mysterio felt it didn't harm thier realism to have increased their strength to half again what his gang member LMDs used. The ninja's best attempts to kill Spider failed. Relieving one of the burlier ninjas of a massive spiked club the Spider swatted them away. Spider wielded the huge club as if it were light as a feather and where ever they landed after being hit by the club the ninjas stayed there and did not move again. Finally at the door Spider kicked it open and stepped outside to find a large outdoor practice field. A small army of ninjas stood on it facing him and at the far end stood a pavilion with two figures standing on it. Behind the pavilion a vortex of energy swirled with a nauseating blend of colors. The two figures on the pavilion were Mysterio and Mary Jane Parker.

"Mary Jane?" Spider said in a disbelieving voice. As if she had heard him the figure of Mary Jane looked at him and screamed!

"Peter!" Mysterio had a firm grip on her arms, which were tied behind her back, and pulled her closer to him.

"Yes Spiderman! It's your precious Mary Jane." Mysterio's voice came from the air around the Spider. "She's the genuine article too. I was able to swap a fake for the real thing when no one was looking. I'm going to keep her."

"Like Hell you will! Get off of me!" Mary Jane screamed struggling in Mysterio's grasp. He cuffed her face, knocking her to her knees.

"She will take some breaking, but once I'm done she'll be most obedient."

"Mary Jane!" Spider yelled as he leapt into motion. His first leap brought him to midfield. The waiting ninjas aimed their weapons at his descending form believing they now had an easy kill. A large spray of webbing foiled their plan though. Their now immobile weapons were unable to track Spider and he adroitly came to ground untouched. Once on the ground he again used his appropriated club to reach out and touch his foes with devastating effect. Screaming Mary Jane's name over and over Spider rapidly advanced on the pavilion. None of the ninjas attempting to kill him came even close to succeeding. Just as Spider leapt to the pavilion to confront the villain, Mysterio grabbed his captive and leapt backward into the vortex behind the pavilion. The two were drawn into it with Mary Jane's cries for Peter fading into the distance. Screaming her name Spider leapt into the vortex after them.

At the end of another rollercoaster ride through time and space Spider found himself at one end of a crevice of rock. Its walls were; high, steep, and anywhere from fifty to seventy-five yards apart. There was no opening behind Spider and at the other end some two hundred yards away was another pavilion with Mysterio and Mary Jane on it. In between was an army of monsters out of fantasy. Orcs, Ogres, and Giants littered the space in between Spider and the pavilion.

"You don't have much time." The disembodied voice of Mysterio echoed around Spider. "If you don't make it to this Pavilion in time I will kill her!" Spider leapt into action. Still griping the large spiked club he had appropriated earlier even the enormous giants were no match for him but they did slow him down. Set in a fantasy setting like this Mysterio had no reason not to give his LMDs full access to their mechanical strength and speed. Mysterio watched with awe and a growing amount of fear. He had designed this level as the ultimate end for Spiderman. This Spider not only wasn't dying he was winning! It was time to put his final ploy into play. The savagery Spider was showing in his fights should play into that ploy nicely Mysterio decided. Fighting with all his might Spider had only reached the halfway point when the voice of Mysterio rang out again. "Too slow Spider but feel free to look on as I blow her brains out." Even as he was fighting, with all his strength for every yard he gained, a hundred yards away Spider saw the motion as Mysterio reached behind his back under his cape and pulled out a very large and brightly chromed pistol! Mysterio started to aim it at Mary Jane's head when, dropping his club, Spider picked up a spear dropped by one of the many Orcs he had just brained, and in one fluid motion hurled it at Mysterio. Mysterio looking to the side at Mary Jane never saw it coming and the spear slammed directly into the middle of his chest. Mysterio looked down at the spear quivering in his chest in stunned amazement and slowly crumpled to his knees. Spider was startled when Mysterio's voice rang out again, "Nice throw. Now come and see what you have wrought." The monsters moved out of his way and Spider reached the edge of the pavilion in a flash as the transfixed figure of Mysterio fell backward, the spear still transfixed in his chest. "Surprise Spider!" the disembodied voice of Mysterio whispered and the figure of Mary Jane vanished and the dying Mysterio on the ground shimmered and melted away revealing Mary Jane in his place transfixed by the spear!

"Mary Jane!" Spider cried out. "No!" he knelt over the body of Mary Jane as, unable to speak, she simply raised a hand and touched his face once before a violent shudder shook her body and when it stopped all life had fled from her. Spider, apparently overwhelmed by the tragedy before him, didn't move as Mysterio moved in behind him silently, cloaked from view by his concealing holograms. However, just before he could plunge a very large knife into Spiders back, Spider lashed out with a foot directly into Mysterio's solar plexus. The solid shot to the nerve cluster there not only knocked the breath from Mysterio's body but also paralyzed his breathing for so long that he actually passed out. Spider stood over Mysterio and said in his cold voice, "Now it's your turn."

Mysterio awoke to find himself shackled to a wall, naked. He was unable to tell where he was due to the enveloping darkness that was only broken in a very small area around him. His fear rising at the unknown all around him, hidden by the dark, he frantically started yanking on the shackles holding him.

"That won't do you any good." Spider's cold voice came out of the darkness beside him. Looking in the direction of the voice he could see only the vaguest outline of Spider but the gleaming red eyes and spider emblems blazed in the darkness.

"Holy Shit!" Quinton Beck exclaimed. Then after he had calmed some, "How? How did you see through everything?"

"I am not the same being I once was."

"But I gassed you! How did you sense me? Your danger sense should have been totally shut down!"

"Thinking I'm a total idiot was part of your failure. You've caught me with that gas before. Did you really think I would come after you here without a filter of some kind? Even if I had forgotten to think of it, since I rebonded with the alien symbiote gas attacks are very ineffective against me. I wear a closed mask and my air supply is filtered by the symbiote so none of your gas made it to me. It's also how I could tell none of my opponents were real humans."

"I wondered about that. Normally you would have gone to great lengths to not kill anyone. The way you waded through my thugs had me scared for a while. So you know that wasn't the real Mary Jane earlier right?" Beck asked hoping to ease whatever was coming next.

"Make no mistake. Had there been real humans in those groups I would have treated them exactly the same. But, yes I was well aware that it was a fake Mary Jane. I let you think I thought it was real to lure you in close." With no warning Spider threw a vicious blow into Beck's stomach. "I am very upset with you for it though."

"So I guess the police are on their way as we speak then?" Beck asked when he finally managed to regain his breath.

"Not unless you called them." Spider's next blow caught Beck in the large thigh muscle of the leg closest to him. The blow bruised the muscle so that the mere act of using that muscle to support his weight was extremely painful.

"Oh God! It was you! You are the person killing the others!"

"Oh Yes! I did kill them and now it's your turn." This time instead of punching Beck he used the symbiote covering and formed claws on the end of his fingers that that would have put a lion to shame and raked Beck's chest and abdomen. The resulting wounds were agonizingly painful but not fatal.

"Aaaahhhh!" Beck screeched, "Stop! Please Stop! I'll turn myself in! I'll turn evidence on the rest of them! Just please don't kill me!"

"Mary Jane begged you to let her go. She begged for their lives when Aunt May had screamed herself so hoarse she couldn't speak anymore. You laughed at them!" Spider made claws of both hands and dug savagely at Becks upper arms. "You then used your special effects magic to make them think they were being helped to escape only to shatter the illusion just when they thought they were free. Well now it's your turn. You will get a chance to escape, and in honor of the man I once was I will promise to leave you alone if you find the one single escape route out of here. If you find it and go straight and harm no one else you will never see me again. But, you don't have forever. If you take too long, well…" The area light suddenly turned on revealing a long hallway with two doors on the left and one on the right and a door at the far end with an Exit sign lit up over it. "Two doors are time sinks, one leads to freedom and life, the last is a sure death. Time starts now!" The shackles unlocked freeing Beck.

"Wait! How much time do I have? What if I don't care to play your little game?" Beck asked as he slowly stood straight. Spider was behind him in a flash and raked both sets of claws down Beck's back, eliciting more screams of pain from him.

"You will know when it's up. Or you can refuse to take the chance of escape and I'll happily rip you to little bitty bits right here." Beck struggled to his feet again and fled down the hall. As he reached the first door on the left he stopped to look at the three hallway doors ignoring the one at the end of the hall with its obvious exit sign. He took the first door to the left and went through. Beyond was a short hallway with another door at the end. Moving as quickly as he could he proceeded through the next door. The hallway beyond it turned sharply to the right and ended in a wall with two doors. Beck reversed course to the door he had just come through and opened it intending to go back to the main hallway. On the other side was one of his ninja LMDs that silently tried to gut him with its sword! Beck fled back down the hall and dodged around the corner just in time to avoid a throwing star which slammed into the wall behind him. As he approached the doors another star nicked his left shoulder as it traveled past and sunk into the door to the left. Beck opened the right hand door and jumped through, slamming it behind him. He heard a third throwing star slam into it. He expected the ninja to try and open the door to continue pursuit but nothing happened.

"Did I forget to mention all choices are final?" Spider's dismembered voice said around him. Cursing his tormenter he approached the three doors at the end of this hall and opened the middle door on a hallway with a blank wall at the end. He was so busy cursing Spider that he almost missed the panel in the far wall open revealing a loaded crossbow that shifted aim and fired at him. The bolt grazed along his ribs as he jumped aside and slammed the door shut! "Oh and some choices have disastrous consequences, but I see you are finally starting to learn that."

Half an hour later and bleeding from half a dozen new minor wounds Beck found himself at the end of a hallway with only a single door ahead of him. Hope soared in his chest as he reached out and carefully opened it. The hope he was feeling turned to ash as the door opened on a blank wall. He slammed the door shut with a curse and the floor dropped out from under him! The shaft was well lit and he could see the bottom filled with spikes as it rushed up at him. He didn't have time to realize the spikes were illusionary before he reached the bottom and felt the bone jarring impact that turned his world dark.

Beck woke up back in the main hallway at Spider's feet. He was sore and bruised and bloody but most of the active bleeding had stopped. He groaned and looked up to see Spider paying no attention to him but looking at a wrist as if checking the time. Time! His time was running out! Groaning again he got to his feet and started moving down the hall. He looked longingly at the far door with the exit sign over it, but he knew that any door so clearly labeled exit just had to have the 'certain death' behind it. After all it's the way he would have done it. He stopped at the second door on the left and opened it to peer through. Seeing a long hallway stretching before him he was about to shut the door and look through the one on the right side of the main hall when walls sprang up on either side of him bracketing the door and the wall behind him moved forward shoving him through the doorway after which the door closed on him.

"I told you all choices are final", Spider's voice said in the air around him, "that just cost you a time penalty." Beck jumped and started moving down the hall his tortured body afire with pain. Eventually he came to a door at the end and proceeded through. On the other side he found an octagonal chamber with a doorway in the middle of each of the eight walls. The room was empty except for a white marble slab in the center of the room. Chained to the top of the slab with golden chains was a gorgeous and very nude red haired woman.

"Help Me!" she screamed as Beck entered the room. He ignored her though and seeing no noticeable differences between the doors in the room he quickly moved through the door to his right. Unknown to him, Spider had a heavy concentration of a very powerful aphrodisiac gas in the room. Within moments of going through the door Beck had a raging erection and thoughts of the bound and naked woman continually intruded on his mind despite his attempts to concentrate on his escape. The winding hallway he was in soon ended in a door that emptied back into the octagonal room with the bound woman. She again screamed for help writhing in the chains that held her. The motions of the woman combined with the new dose of gas stiffened Beck's erection even further but he turned away from her and took the next door in line. Trying to keep track of where he was, and had already been, he mentally numbered the doors. Counting the doors from the one he had initially entered, he had entered through door one, left through door two, re-entered through door three and was leaving again through door four. Thoughts of the woman continued to plague him as he quickly traversed the hallway. He soon found himself re-entering the octagonal room through Door five. With a yell of frustration Beck ran through door number six before the woman could start yelling again. The multiple doses of gas and his body's constant state of arousal were taking its toll on his mental and physical condition. His constant and unrelieved need was causing a very painful ache in his scrotum and his ability to focus on escape over the naked and helpless woman was waning. Again he found himself entering the room through door seven this time. At the sight of her still struggling against her bonds a red haze of lust sprang up in his vision and he had taken an involuntary step toward her before, with a groan that shook his body, he turned and fled through door eight. Only the hope that the final door of the room would lead to his escape was enough to pull him away from what his body was demanding. When this hallway's only exit proved to be the first door he had entered, he raised his head to the ceiling and howled in frustration! When he lowered his head his gaze locked onto the brilliant green eyes of the woman in chains. He started taking slow steps toward her. She seemed to notice for the first time his state of arousal and her pleas for assistance turned to pleas for him to stay away, he didn't. Chained as she was there was nothing she could do to prevent the crazed Beck from climbing atop her and, after a small bit of fumbling to get into the proper position, thrusting his painfully swollen member completely into her! Beck was so crazed that he never noticed that the panic in her voice and movements had never shown in her eyes. Nor had he heard the click and rattle of the chains falling away from her limbs. He wasn't even aware of her arms and legs wrapping around his neck and waist until they prevented him from pulling back to thrust into her again. His physical need forcibly paused, he raised his head from her shoulder and looked into her eyes.

"You're mine to play with now Love." She said in a cruel voice. Horror flared in Beck's expression as he recalled those were the exact words he had spoken to Mary Jane Parker as he had started to rape her. Suddenly he felt a sharp stinging sensation all along his member and scrotum where it was grinding against the flesh of her crotch, as if her inner walls and the skin of her inner thighs and crotch had turned into sandpaper! Beck froze afraid that trying to pull back would cause more pain than he was already in and possibly serious damage as well. He waited for his erection to subside and remove itself from danger but the gas in the room foiled this hope. The woman's smile grew wider and his horror grew deeper as he realized just how helpless he had become. Then the woman keeping a firm grip on him with her arms and legs began to grind her hips against his. He cried out at the jolts of pain this caused and again the woman echoed the words he himself had used before, "That's it Love. Scream for me!" Then she set up a fast rhythm pushing and then pulling him with her legs forcing him to thrust deeply into her over and over again. He screamed endlessly. Even when she stopped and pushed him off her the pain in his abraded genitals didn't lessen. He tried to curl up into a fetal position but with overwhelming strength the woman, who could only be one of his own Life Model Decoys reprogramed, stretched him out face down and used the golden chains to secure him spread eagle on the marble slab. He was content with this for a moment thinking his abused genitals were slightly safer when he was face down until the slab started shifting under him and his hips were raised into the air. He grew very pale as he remembered what he had done to Mary Jane next. Turning his head to look at the woman standing beside the marble slab he could only stare in horror as he saw her pulling on a strap on dildo, a very large dildo with ugly little studs all along its length. Beck started mumbling the word 'No' over and over again as she climbed up on the slab behind him and positioned herself and the dildo at his anus. "I said scream for me Bitch!" she yelled as she forcibly rammed the strap on home. Beck screamed until his voice disintegrated and faded to nothing and then he howled soundlessly. He never even realized she had stopped until she punched him in the face hard enough to break his nose. He could only stare at her dumbly as, still gloriously naked, she swung a large metal club up over her head and brought it down on his skull and he knew no more.

When he again regained consciousness at the feet of Spider Quentin Beck started to cry as he realized that his ordeal was not yet over. Spider booted him in the ribs and said, "I'm enjoying the show but you are running out of time. You still have two doors left. One is your death, The other is your life and freedom. If you don't get up and choose now your time will run out and if that happens what you just experienced will seem like a day at the park." Beck looked up at Spider and although he was unable to speak the doubtful look on his face voiced his question well enough. "No. I'm not lying to you. On the souls of my Wife and Aunt one of the two remaining doors does lead to your escape." Beck knew that had he been in control there would have been no escape but the man who was now calling himself Spider had spent years as a hero. While his body bore the proof that Spider would cheerfully torture him, and the body count he had racked up was proof that he would kill to avenge his Wife and Aunt, Beck didn't believe that he would lie. But then maybe the reason he believed this so strongly was because if he didn't then he would have to accept that he had no chance of escape and he still wanted to live! So despite the flaring agony that only increased with every movement he struggled to his feet and staggered down the hallway. As he reached the door on the right he stopped and stared at the exit sign over the door at the end of the hall. He knew Spider had taken over his systems and equipment. It galled him that Spider had used them with more finesse than he ever had. The question was, how honest was Spider? Beck knew Spider wanted him dead yet he believed him when he said there was a way out. So was the exit sign true or just a lure to draw him to the wrong door? In the end Beck just didn't have that much trust in him. He lurched through the door to his right. He was all the way through it before he realized there was only darkness on the other side. He had barely absorbed that the only thing visible was the column of light from the open door falling on a bare concrete floor when the door closed behind him shutting out all light. In the sudden darkness he whirled around to try and re-open the door but it wasn't there any longer. He stood in the perfect darkness for long minutes afraid to move. The only sounds were those of his rapid breathing and the frantic beating of his heart. Slowly he became aware of a patch of darkness that wasn't as inky black as the rest of the area around him. With the silence roaring in his ears he moved toward the barely perceptible patch of lesser darkness. He had no idea how long he had been walking, but he suddenly realized that somewhere along the way the patch of lesser darkness had become a patch of very dim light! He tried to increase his pace toward that light but the pain was too great. The light grew brighter and brighter in its one spot but was never able to throw back the darkness. He could see the light in front of him but looking down he couldn't see his own body. He kept moving despite his body's growing agony. Just when he didn't think he could walk any further he realized the light now appeared to be a white circle on the concrete floor. He pushed onward; he had to reach that light! His whole being focused on it and finally well past the point where he should have collapsed into an unmoving heap he stepped into the light and could see himself again! He stood there basking in the light for a long time staring at his hands just for the pleasure of seeing anything. Eventually though, the light no longer reassured him as it didn't penetrate the darkness around him. Instead of a bastion of safety his small circle of light seemed more like a small fragile raft on a sea of darkness.

"Hello Beck." Spider's voice came from behind him. He whirled around careful to stay in his circle of light. The black of Spider's suit matched the blackness surrounding the light so perfectly that the only parts of him visible were the blazing blood red eyes and spider emblems. "Your ordeal is almost at an end."

"Then I chose the right door? I'm going to be free?" Becks shattered voice could barely be heard.

"No", Becks hopes crashed, "and yes." No longer knowing what to feel Beck just looked at Spider awaiting the pronouncement of his fate. "You picked the wrong door. You will die here tonight. However, you will be free in the end. You will be granted the freedom of death and before it is granted to you, you will desire nothing else."

"How?" Beck mouthed the question soundlessly. In answer Spider extended a fist into the ring of light and opened it palm up. Beck could see, on his upturned palm, a small spider the same blazing blood red as his eyes.

"A little thing I cooked up in a local A.I.M. facility." The small red spider crawled to the edge of Spider's hand and lowered itself down on a web toward the floor and started moving toward Beck as Spider continued talking. "It looks like your average spider but there are some differences. They're tough, beyond your current ability to destroy. Its legs end in barbs that are impossible to dislodge without doing even more damage, and instead of draining its prey of fluids it's designed to bite and chew." By now Beck was painfully dancing around his circle of light to avoid the blazing red spider that was trying to latch onto one of his feet. Beck threw a glance at Spider to see his reaction to Beck's avoidance of the spider and was stunned to see what must be twenty of the creatures swinging down from Spiders hand. A stinging sensation on the instep of his right foot captured his attention and he saw that the first spider had caught up to him in his moment of inattention and attached itself to him. Shaking his foot failed to dislodge it and the pain grew worse. He reached down to flick it away but only one leg pulled free with even more pain. Desperately he grasped it and ripped it from his foot only to have it twist in his hand and latch onto a finger and again start very painfully biting! He then noticed the new spiders crawling across his circle of light spread out so he had no hope of avoiding them. Desperate to not get any more of them on him he backed away from them moving out of the light. As they followed him into the darkness he saw he could still see their blood red forms. "Wait! Don't go that way" Spider's words floated out of nowhere, "they have friends that way." Craning his head to look behind he saw an endless sea of blazing red sweeping toward him! Galvanized into desperate action he leapt over the small group of spiders in front of him and fled through the darkness. The circle of light had vanished when he turned his head but he didn't care. It offered no safety and he had to escape that approaching tide of red. He staggered to a halt as the red behind him was about to vanish when he saw another wave of red appear in the distance in front of him. Quick glances showed him red waves approaching from all sides. The pain from his hands was growing worse. Every time he dislodged the spider from one spot it would only shift to another. He raised his eyes and howled out a soundless cry of fear and rage. "Yes. Your run is over. But you still fear death. That will change soon. As the red flood of spiders washed over him he realized that his previous tortures, which he had thought were unendurable, were minor compared to the wave of agony that crashed over him now. The pain was endless and only grew greater, never lessening. Eventually, as Spider had predicted, he did long for death. Anything that would stop the unending, all-encompassing pain! It wasn't until even the hope for death had been killed by the awful pain that his life was ended. It was sudden and unannounced so that Beck wasn't even given the small mercy of knowing that death was about to release him from his torment. Once it was finally over Spider walked down the hallway, opened the exit door, went outside the building, and walked away.

DIALY BUGLE HEADLINE

MYSTERIO'S SKELETON FOUND IN ALLEY!

Dental records required to ID body. Cause of death not known.

To be continued. Next Chapter Kraven the Hunter.


	11. Chapter 11 Kraven the Hunter

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 11 Kraven the Hunter

Kraven the Hunter was overjoyed and dismayed at the same time. After what had been done to Spiderman's women he had truly become the deadliest of game. Like a wounded animal Spiderman had turned the tables on his hunters and made them the prey! Kraven was overjoyed that his greatest prey was finally becoming the deadly hunter he had always had the potential to be. But, he was also dismayed because he, Kraven the Hunter, was failing to track down his prey! Always before he was able to track down his prey, whatever it was, and observe it. Once found he would study his prey and observe its strengths and weaknesses. He could then plan on how to weaken it so that at the end he could face it with his bare hands and destroy it proving his superiority both mentally and physically. But, not this time. He could not find Spiderman now. No matter which part of the city he staked out for observation, Spiderman always seemed to take a different path. Kraven had wanted to study his prey after his change into a predator to see how his habits had changed so that he could tailor his strategy to best take him down. Little did he know that his prey had been studying him. Despite the string of bodies Spiderman had left to be found Kraven still thought he was the hunter not the prey. Tonight he would learn the truth.

Kraven had just settled into a blind atop a radio tower on one of the tallest buildings around to continue his surveillance for Spiderman when he felt hands grab him from behind and hurl him off the tower! He fell for fifty feet until the safety line he had hooked to his belt snapped taunt stopping his fall with bone jarring force! Gripping the safety line and twisting around to look upward he saw a black clad figure with eye slits and spider emblems a blazing blood red color standing on the side of the tower perpendicular to its surface. Despite the change in costume Kraven knew this was Spiderman! As soon as this thought crossed his mind his prey leapt off the opposite side of the tower disappearing from view. Kraven went into pursuit mode but fast as he was by the time he got to the other side of the building there was no sign of his prey. He went back to his blind and searched the area where his prey had stood but could find no trace of him. Not even a scent lingered for him to track! Again hands grabbed him from behind and hurled him off the side of the radio tower! But this time when he turned to look upward he saw his safety line being held in Spiderman's hand. It had been unsecured from the tower and now Spiderman was all that was keeping him from a very long fall. Before he could grab something Spiderman dropped the line and Kraven started to fall. The line was still in his hand and he managed to whip it around a bit of the radio tower's structure before he crashed into the building's observation deck. However the speed of his descent pulled the line through his hands burning them badly and wrenched his body badly as it folded around the improper harness of his belt. Pushing through the pain Kraven pulled up to get some slack on the line and unhooked it from his belt and dropped the last few feet to the observation deck. Looking up again he saw no sign of his prey.

"Curse you Spiderman! Come out and face me!" Kraven yelled.

"It's just Spider now." A cold voice floated up from the side of the building below the level of the safety railing. Kraven ran over and looked over the railing just in time to catch a foot square in the face! The force of the blow snapped his head back and flung him away from the railing to land unconscious.

Kraven regained consciousness stripped naked and hung by his bound hands and feet to a horizontal pole as if he were the trophy! He raged and swore and cursed but was unable to free himself until the webbing eventually dissolved on its own. Finally free of the webbing he found his clothes piled to the side with a note on top. Short and to the point it said, "Your disappointing prey. Try harder!" and was signed, "Spider". Kraven cursed as he crumpled the paper and threw it away. His rage grew as he gathered his clothes and redressed. How dare his prey think it was the hunter? It would have to be reminded of its place. However, recent experience had just reminded him of his place and it wasn't at the top of the tallest building in New York City. Attacking dangerous prey in its area of strength was foolish. For all his strengths swinging around the tops of skyscrapers was not one of them, but it certainly was Spiderman's! So, the Spider wanted to do the hunting eh? Well Kraven prided himself on adapting to his prey, so he could adapt to this change in Spiderman's normal actions too. First of all he needed to get a lot closer to street level. There he would start heading openly toward Central Park. Spiderman was obviously enraged and would eagerly follow Kraven away from his area of strength. Dressed and with a plan in mind Kraven left the observation deck. Once he was gone a black clad figure emerged from a shadowed corner where he had hidden unnoticed. The red of his eyes and spider emblem gaining strength and brightness as he emerged from the shadows he picked up the crumpled note and tucked it away. Then he leapt over the side and swung away, he knew where Kraven would be heading and he had a plan too.

Kraven was moving along the rooftops making good time. Away from the skyscrapers these buildings were much lower. Low enough that a fall need not be fatal to someone of his abilities. He was still sore from his encounter with Spiderman earlier and the broken nose from the kick to his face both hurt and interfered with his breathing. But he was still moving well and had full confidence in his abilities. Then in mid leap from one building to another a web line shot out from behind him and snared a foot. Just before he could land it went taunt pulling his feet out behind him leaving only his arms left to prevent him from slamming face first onto the rooftop. He was only partially successful. He kept the impact from breaking his neck but it did stun him for several moments. Shaking his head trying to clear it he noticed blood flying from his nose that had been re-bloodied in his latest fall. He tasted blood and discovered the impact had also torn his lips and loosened his front teeth. He looked down at the small pool of his blood forming beneath his battered face and felt some of his confidence ebb. He had hunted the fiercest and strongest animals this planet had to offer without the aid of ranged weapons and had never been bloodied like this. Even more disconcerting was how his prey seemed able to so easily avoid detection. His excellent situational awareness was the only reason he had survived several of his more dangerous hunts but tonight he had been attacked three times with no warning what so ever. He had thought the first couple of times had been mere flukes but he now realized his prey had become more dangerous than ever. He picked himself up and finally managed to cut the webbing away from his foot. Standing there he looked around carefully. When he didn't see his prey he closed his eyes and focused on his other senses. After a few moments of sensing nothing he opened his eyes. He barely had time to register the blazing red eyes right in front of him when a fist caught him in his right eye! Seeing nothing but flashing lights he struck out blindly and hit only air. When his vision cleared he was alone again. Knowing he needed some distance he started moving again keeping a constant lookout for another attack. As the minutes ticked on without incident his wariness grew worse. He started jumping at every odd sound or glimpse of movement seen in the edge of his peripheral vision. Even realizing what he was doing didn't help. He had started moving like the prey he hunted did. That realization stunned him so badly that he stopped to try and grasp it. He didn't get the time to do so. As soon as he stopped Spider sprang up behind him and swung both cupped palms against Kraven's ears. Kraven screamed! Again he swung wildly; again he hit only empty air. He needed to escape! He needed to get to the woods of the park. He would be safe there in his own element. All traces of the hunter gone Kraven the Prey started to run.

An hour later he finally made it into the woods of Central Park. It had been a bad hour for him. Over and over blows had come out of nowhere to bruise and batter him. Web lines had snaked out of shadows to trip him. Panic and fear had overwhelmed him. His one remaining thought had been to gain the safety of the trees. Only now that he was there he found they helped his hunter far more than they did him. Barely able to move his battered body anymore he staggered along still vainly trying to escape his hunter. A flare of hope surged as he entered a small clearing that he recognized. His original plan had called for luring the Spider here. Now even though they weren't here following his plan they were here none the less! He raced across the clearing as fast as his battered body would allow and leapt over the line of steel jawed leg traps he had concealed. Leaping just past them he landed in front of a large tree planning on putting his back to it and luring Spider into the traps. The first indication that his plan had been turned on him was when his right foot landed square on one of the traps and it slammed closed on his leg. The force of it would have shattered the leg of a lesser man. Although his leg wasn't broken the cruel angled teeth of the trap dug so deeply into his leg that they scraped bone.

"Ouch! That looks painful." Spider said just behind him. Furious at his tormenter Sergei swung around lashing out! He missed. His trapped foot screamed in pain as he pivoted on it and his other foot landed in another trap! Sergei howled in agony as he fell to his knees. The pain was so great he was barely aware when a web line shot out from his right side and snared his right hand. The line pulled his arm up and back so that he was half standing. Quicker than he thought possible another line snapped out from his left capturing that hand. This line also pulled up and back until he was fully erect against the tree and unable to move, pulled up by his wrists and held down by the steel traps clamped around his ankles. "So Sergei, how did you enjoy your last hunt?" Sergei looked over and saw the black clad figure with the blazing red eyes and spider emblems standing next to him holding one of his hunting spears in one hand.

"It didn't turn out quiet like I had planned." Sergei replied his pain evident in his voice. "I wouldn't have believed it possible for anyone to have stalked me as you must have done."

"You only got what you asked for."

"I suppose that is true. I hope you send for the police quickly. These traps are doing some nasty things to my legs."

"It will be far too late when the police arrive. But it won't be the traps that kill you." Spider said giving the spear in his had a small shake.

"Ha! I may have misjudged your abilities but one thing is certain, Spiderman doesn't kill in cold blood!" Sergei said with a sense of dread entering his voice as he remembered the string of recent headlines announcing the deaths of those he knew had taken part in the torture and death of Spiderman's women. He knew Spiderman had killed them why was he trying to convince them both that it wasn't true now? Was he begging for his life? How had he fallen so low so quickly?

"You're right Spiderman didn't kill. But I'm not him anymore. You helped kill him. I'm just Spider now, and you are my prey!" Spider brought the butt of the spear straight up into Sergei's crotch! Sergei couldn't even scream well as his body tried to curl protectively around his damaged scrotum. "You ever heard the saying that 'He who lives by the sword dies by the sword'? Well you have lived by the spear so you can guess what happens next. Slowly placing the tip of the long slim bladed spearhead against Sergei's stomach Spider slowly leaned into it. Sergei did scream as the razor sharp spearhead slowly penetrated his body. His every jerk and spasm caused him more damage and pain. The spear exited his back and sank into the tree behind him. Spider let go of the spear and stepped back and watched while Sergei Kravenoff howled and jerked as the spear that transfixed him slowly bleed out his life. It was a show that didn't end quickly. When it was done Spider turned and walked away into the shadows.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

KRAVEN THE HUNTER FOUND SLAIN

World's Greatest Hunter Slain With His Own Weapons.

To be continued. Next Chapter Electro


	12. Chapter 12 Electro

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 12 Electro

Maxwell Dillon AKA Electro was on top of the world. Since he had participated in the rape, torture, and murder of Mary Jane and May Parker he felt as if he had truly achieved a victory over Spiderman. It galled him that he had to share it with the others but a victory was a victory and was to be savored no matter how it had been achieved. He had gone on a short crime spree right after the killing and had been living in luxury on the proceeds ever since. He had seen the headlines about the deaths of the others. He knew he ought to be worried that he might share their fate but he just couldn't seem to dredge up any concern about it and to be honest he hadn't really tried. The money he had stolen after the murders had been enough to buy some very credible forged IDs and set him up in a luxury penthouse where he was waited on hand and foot. He delighted in the outward shows of respect his new wealth acquired for him. He only had one problem. His new lifestyle had burned through the recently acquired money. He would simply have to go and steal some more. It was ridiculously easy now. He had stopped going for the big flashy crimes in broad daylight. Instead he had discovered that the right current shot through an ATM machine would not only knock out its camera but would also trigger its dispensing mechanism and empty all its cash into his greedy hands. Three of four machines hit in a random pattern across the city gave him more than enough money to live on for another month or so and was incredibly risk free. He no longer ran around in his Electro costume. It just didn't make sense to try and commit crimes while screaming hey look at me and notice what I'm doing! He now wore plain clothes, a large black trench coat, special leather gloves designed to allow his powers to be used without destroying them, and a ski mask that only left his eyes visible to protect his identity when he was at the ATMs.

It was sheer bad luck on Electro's part that Spider ran across him as he walked the streets on his way to his next stop. Spider had not given up on tracking down Electro but like Electro he had run out of ready cash. He no longer lived at Parker's house. He didn't want to be found until his work was done. In fact he didn't 'live' anywhere. He would find safe secluded niches in empty buildings to sleep in only because even after his merger with the symbiote sleep was still a physical necessity. He only ate because it too was a physical requirement. However since he refused to steal his food he also required money to buy it if he was going to live to complete his work. Like Electro Spider did not have a current source of legal income so he resorted to theft. Unlike Electro he did care who he stole from. Spider had taken to following drug pushers working the streets back to their suppliers and their suppliers until he found a storage house with plenty of drugs, money, and drug pushers inside. He would carefully work his way into the site rendering the drug dealers inside unconscious before they could recognize him and leave them bound with the drugs and just enough money so it was obvious they were sellers and then dial 911 and leave. The police investigating the unusual 911 calls found them and removed them from the streets but were uneasy not knowing who was leaving them gifts. Spider took the rest of the money and used it to fund his work. He was in the process of trailing another street pusher when, thanks to the senses he had gained from his merger with the symbiote, he detected a faint whiff of ozone he associated with Electro. He looked around quickly for the flash of Electro's green and gold costume but could see nothing like it from his perch on a wall where he could follow the drug dealer without risk of detection. Spider tracked the scent but it soon faded. Reversing course he followed it the other way until he saw the figure in the long dark trench coat. Spider's first impulse was to jump on him and take him down hard. But, in addition to the risk this would put nearby people in he also didn't want anyone to see him attack and carry off an innocent appearing man. So he followed him. Staying camouflaged through the symbiote that was now a part of him he was still undetected when Electro returned to the high rise building where he rented rooms that he paid for with his stolen cash. Spider considered his prey and the potential for innocent casualties from a head on confrontation with him. While he was no longer Spiderman he still would not deliberately endanger innocent lives in the furtherance of his work. As much as he would enjoy pummeling Electro he would have to refrain. Spider knew where Electro was holed up now so he could leave and make some preparations and come back later. Electro was living on borrowed time and Spider would collect his due when the time was right.

A few days later Spider was back only to find that Electro had thrown another wrench in his plans. Instead of being alone he had a very young prostitute with him. Spider could tell that even though she made all the right motions and noises this was not a prostitute who enjoyed her work at all. In fact he rather got the feeling that she would rather be just about anywhere else. Electro was not a gentle bed mate and he used the girl roughly for a solid half hour before collapsing spent. Once she was sure he had drifted off to sleep she curled up on her side and cried. After she was done she carefully left the bed and gathered up her clothing. Dressed she turned to leave and froze at the sight of Spider standing in front of the door a finger raised in the classic motion for silence. She had been so intent on moving quietly, so as to make her own escape, that she hadn't seen Spider leave the air vent he had used to gain entrance, and as a hiding place until Electro drifted off, and crawl down the wall by the door. Spider pointed at one of the chairs and motioned her to sit down. Quivering in fear she did so and watched as the figure clad in solid black moved like a shadow over to the bed where Electro lay snoring lightly. He pulled a small bottle and a cloth from a pack on his back and dampened the cloth with the liquid in the bottle. He leaned over the bed and held the damp cloth as close to Electro's mouth and nose as he could without actually touching him. Electro's snores faded until he seemed to be barely breathing. Now Spider came over and knelt in front of the terrified girl and said in a very low voice.

"It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I have to go or my handler will be up here to retrieve me. If I'm late for any other reason than spending extra time with the 'client' he'll beat me!" She said praying this person was not going to be responsible for her getting another beating. Or killing her to keep her from speaking about him depending on why he was here.

"Wait a minute! You mean you're not doing this by choice?" Spider was stunned.

"No! The bitch who rents me out nabbed me straight off the bus. I was too stupid to run then and it's too late now. The ones who try are beaten, bad. Those who try again are killed! Please let me go now!" Spider's eyes and spider emblems flared red as she told him this.

"If I guaranteed you that they could never track you down would you escape?"

"In a heartbeat but you can't guarantee that! They always track them down sooner or later. They make us watch what they do before they die! You can't keep them from finding me!"

"I can."

"How?"

"Kill them first. They can't track you down if they are already dead."

"But aren't you Spiderman? You don't kill. Do you?"

"The man I was didn't. If I had been stronger…well I wasn't then but I am now. You can call me Spider. Now do you want to be free?"

"Oh God yes! Can you get the others out too? I'm not the only one they are using."

"Hold on a moment." Spider looked at Electro in his bed debating between the work he had to do and this poor girl who needed help so badly. The words Power and Responsibility floated through his head sounding exactly like his Uncle Bens voice. He sighed and pulled a syringe out of his pack and went over to the bed. He plunged the needle into Electro's neck and emptied its contents into him. Returning to the girl he said with more volume, "Ok. He'll be out for at least twenty-four hours. Now do you know where your captors are based at?"

"No! They have a basement garage and never let us see anything when we are driven to and from our appointments."

"Ok, that's gonna make it tougher on you in the short run but you will be just as free in the long run. I can place a tracer on you they will not find and follow you there. But, that means you will have to go back down to your handler like you normally would."

"I can do that. Do you promise to follow and set us free?" With the terrified hope rising in her eyes Spider pulled the mask away from his face and looked into her eyes. His eyes were very hard and determined, but not cold.

"I give you my solemn vow to do whatever is necessary to free you and the others." She searched his eyes for a moment and then sighed herself.

"Ok. Let's get this over with." She said. Spider nodded and pulled out one of the new line of spider tracers he had devised and gently placed it on the upper curve of her ear. It sat there a second and then almost seemed to melt into her as it formed into a match for the contours of her ear and then matched her skin tone so perfectly it practically became invisible.

"Done, they will never find that and only I can sense where it's at. Go back and follow your normal routines with them. Act like you always do! I will get you back out but I will have to do a thorough search of the building before I act so I can free you without causing the wrong people to be hurt. By the way what's your name?"

"Melissa. No, I'm not her anymore. I can't be her anymore. From now on I'm what you have given me. Call me Hope."

"Ok Hope. Just remember they have to believe you're Melissa for one more night. Now go." Hope pulled a cloak of Melissa around her and left the suite. Spider watched from the roof as she exited the building and met a man waiting across the street. They got in his car and left. Spider went back inside and picked up Electro and slung him over a shoulder. "Well Max we can't start right away. I have something else to attend to first. But don't worry, that sedative will keep you out long enough for me to take care of this other matter before you ever even realize you're not in your own bed anymore." Spider then carefully carried Maxwell Dillon out of the building making sure to grab his stolen ATM money as well and left to stash the sleeping form of Electro in a more secure spot.

Spider had followed the tracer he had put on Hope away from the city, through the suburbs, and into the country to a large estate. Fortunately the estate wasn't too far from a nearby Interstate Highway otherwise he would never have made it there in time to keep his promise of freeing her tonight. Web slinging was great until you left the areas with taller buildings. Spider had managed to hitch a ride on a semi and remain undetected during the trip. Still he had precious little time left to scope out the place and figure out how to do what needed to be done without endangering those he had come to rescue. However he soon realized that whoever was behind this operation was counting on the remote location protecting them from prying eyes rather than electronics or physical security. He had no problem sneaking onto the property and making his way around to the back of the four story mansion centered on the grounds. He found the entrance to the underground garage Hope had told him about and looked inside. Inside the garage he found a man sitting on the hood of one of the parked cars smoking a cigarette. Spider easily snuck up on the man and in no time had him bound, gagged, and blindfolded before he even had a chance to think about sounding the alarm. Spider formed the fingers of his right hand into claws and grasped the throat of his captive who froze completely, afraid any movement on his part would result in his death.

"I am about to remove the gag. You do understand what will happen if you misbehave?" The man very carefully nodded his head once. Spider placed his left hand over the webbing of the gag and re-absorbed it. His captive remained absolutely silent. "Now then, I believe this is where several young women are being held and forced to act as prostitutes am I correct? Think before you answer! Your truthfulness has a direct relation on how long you live."

"Yes, it is." The man answered quickly.

"How many are held captive here?"

"Fifteen girls and ten boys."

"Boys?"

"Yes. The clients who pay Madam Scarlet aren't always heterosexual."

"Madame Scarlet?"

"Her choice and she kills anyone who calls her anything else. No one here knows what her real name is. She's a mutant or something, freaky fast and really strong."

"I understand it's also practically impossible to escape. Why?"

"Not practically, it is impossible to escape. Scarlet is also a tracker. Once she tastes your blood there is nowhere on the planet she can't find you and anyone related to you."

"Is she the one who tortures and kills the ones who try to escape?"

"The other handlers help. They're all as sick and twisted as she is."

"But you're not?" sarcasm dripped from Spider's voice.

"No I'm not. I'm as much a captive as any of the others. One of the girls is my sister. Scarlet will kill her and our parents if we don't co-operate. So I take one of the girls to her appointments and my sister…well she does what she has to as well."

"How many other handlers are in your situation?"

"None. There are twenty four handlers on floors one through three West wing. The captives are on one through three East wing. Scarlet has the entire fourth floor for her personal use. Her main office is in the center, sleeping area on the West wing and everything else on the East side."

"Is this all part of a larger operation?"

"No. Scarlet is trying to figure out how to expand but it all hinges on her abilities and she doesn't trust anyone else anyway."

"Are any of the interior doors locked?"

"No. The handlers are free to use any of the slaves at their whim so long as it doesn't interfere with an appointment. Scarlet doesn't trust the handlers behind locked doors and no one dares enter her area uninvited."

"So how do I know you have told me the truth about any of this?" Spider knew because he could sense it through his symbiote covering that was touching the man but he wanted to hear what he would say.

"Simple. My failure to sound the alarm and not remaining silent and dying when you caught me have sentenced my sister and parents to death. My only hope is that you take out Scarlet and you have to have accurate information to do that. Plus if you win I want something."

"What makes you think I'm here to kill her?"

"Judging by the way you snuck in here, you're here to end this horror or you're going to take it over for yourself or for someone else. Either way she will kill me for the reasons I already mentioned. You can't save anyone here while she is alive and able to track them down eventually and she will not accept anyone else taking control of this operation so you will have to kill her."

"And what is it you want if I win"

"The handler in the room farthest down the third floor hall right hand side, don't kill him."

"Why?"

"He's made it his personal mission to take my sister every chance he can just to drive a knife in my gut. I want to be the one to kill him."

"If you're lying to me you will die far worse than any of the escapees. If you are telling me the truth then you and your sister will have your freedom and your revenge."

Spider webbed the gag back in place and entered the building. He wasted no time. Moving quickly and silently through the first three floors on the west wing he quietly entered each room and silently crushed the sleeping occupant's throat and making sure their dying thrashing didn't wake anyone else. The final handler at the end of the third floor he webbed up just like he had the man in the underground garage. As he climbed the central stair case to the fourth floor he felt his Spider sense flare. Instead of walking to the top of the stairs he leapt up through their opening to the ceiling above. A knife flew through the air he had just leapt through with such force that it went through the wall and disappeared from sight. Spider looked at the woman who had thrown it. Tall and athletic with another knife in hand she stood loose and ready to move, looking at him speculatively

"I can sense those whose blood I've tasted you know?" she said.

"It would only make sense. How else could you so accurately track down escapees?" answered Spider.

"I could feel my men fade out as you killed them. You missed a couple you know."

"Don't worry about them. They are no longer your concern. I don't suppose you're being forced to do what you're doing here are you?" Spider dropped down.

"No one forces me to do anything! I've killed all those who have tried to use me and now I'm the user. I'm in charge here!"

"I believe you."

"Then walk away now while you can." She demanded.

"I don't think so. I'm here to free those kids and make sure you can't hurt them ever again."

"Even if you could take them you can't hide them from me. There's nothing you can do to prevent me from tracking them down."

"There is one thing."

"This means I've already won! You heroes don't have the strength to do that." Madame Scarlet, tired of the useless word play, rushed Spider planning on putting a quick end to her intruder. Spider simply side stepped her thrusting knife and blocked her follow up kick. She probably would have wiped the floor with him before his return from Asgard and everything that had happened since. Now however she was neither fast nor strong enough to prevail against him. He let the fight drag on for a few minutes until she fully realized this as well. Soon he could tell her focus had shifted from kill to flee. As soon as it had he wrenched the knife from her hand. Desperate she turned to run. Spider's web line caught her right arm stopping her forward momentum and swung her around facing Spider. Before she could try to run again he slammed the knife, up to its hilt, low in her abdomen. She gasped as the shock and pain of the intrusion coursed through her body.

"I'm not a hero anymore." Spider said softly and ripped the knife up through her body until it was buried in her heart. "But, I will no longer avoid my responsibility." He watched the light fade from her eyes and let her body drop and started to walk away. Then remembering all the times a villain had evaded death one way or another he went back, pulled out the knife and coolly used it to remove her head. Spider returned to the final handler and slung him over a shoulder and carried him easily while he roused the captives and finally managed to herd them all into the underground garage. One of the girls saw the man webbed up and ran over to him.

"Kevin!" Quickly seeing he hadn't been physically hurt she begged. "Please don't hurt him! He's only been working for them to keep me alive!"

"Does anyone else care to speak for or against him?" Spider asked the group.

"He was my handler." Said one of the oldest girls. "He wasn't a willing one though."

"So you want him punished I suppose?" Spider asked the girl.

"No!" she gasped.

"Why? He took you time after time to be the sexual slave to people who had paid for it.?

"Yes he did. If he hadn't Madam Scarlet would have killed; him, his sister, their parents, and me. I heard her tell him exactly that. I don't like this life but I'm not ready to die. Not only that, he took care of me as best as he could. When a client got rough with me he went out of his way to care for me while I recovered. He did everything he could to keep the rest of the handlers off of me like he couldn't do for his sister although he tried. I…I love him." The last part she said barely louder than a whisper.

"I can understand not wanting him hurt but love?"

"Yes Love." She answered more firmly. "I offered myself to him. It was the only way I had to thank him for everything he did for me. He said no. He told me that if we ever got out totally free and I made the same offer because I wanted to do so from desire not a feeling of obligation he wouldn't hesitate, but here and now like this no. I think I loved him before that, I know i did from that second on."

"Fair enough. Does anyone else have a reason why he shouldn't live?" No one spoke up to give a reason to justify his death. "Ok, he lives." Spider said and he absorbed the webbing holding Kevin and set him free. Kevin's sister and the older girl clung to him in relief while Spider picked up the last handler and pulled the webbing from his head.

"What the hell is goin on down here?" the last handler demanded as he saw all the captives gathered in the garage. "Every last one of you get back to your rooms!" he ordered. The captives slowly started moving to obey when Spider opened a web pouch on the handlers back and pulled Scarlet's severed head from it and held it up for everyone to see.

"You no longer have any authority here. In fact I would say you're in a very bad spot just about now." The looks of sullen obedience on the captive faces had flashed to shocked disbelief at the site of Scarlet's head. Then they shifted to burning anger as they looked at the handler. "Is there anyone who will speak up for him like these two spoke up for Kevin?" Spider asked. Hope looked at him from her spot in the group.

"It won't happen Spider." She said in a clear strong voice. "Reginald here was the closest thing Scarlet had to a second in command. He took great pleasure in causing pain of all types. The only person here he hasn't raped at one time or another is Kevin. He couldn't touch him physically so he hurt him mentally by hurting his sister every chance he got."

"That's a lie!" yelled Reginald. "I only did what I had to, to survive. Scarlet threatened to kill me if I didn't!" he said desperately.

"You lie," Spider said in his ice cold voice, "so long as I'm touching my webbing on you I can tell when you lie." Spider said as he absorbed the webbing from Reginald's body. "Kevin you asked me for a favor. It's yours." Spider said and stepped away from Reginald. Kevin's charge picked up Reginald and slammed him to the ground. Reginald lay there stunned as Kevin started venting his pent up rage and fury. Kevin finally stopped exhausted, long after Reginald had become nothing more than a bloody corpse on the floor. Spider said, "Ok that takes care of that. Now let's call the authorities and get you all back to your families."

"No!" Hope said.

"What? Why not?" Spider said in shock.

"A few will want to go home but most of us got snagged by Scarlet because we were running from bad home situations. Some just as bad as or worse than what was happening here."

"Hmf. Wasn't expecting that. All right give me a moment." Spider moved a bit away and pulled the cell phone he had lifted off of Kevin earlier and made a call. When someone picked up on the other end he said, "Logan I need a favor…"

An hour later all the captives were waiting in the garage with pillow cases stuffed with the bits of clothing they felt like keeping when a motorcycle was heard approaching. When it entered the garage its rider was revealed to be a short man with thick muscles and a sour looking attitude. He got off the bike and looked over the situation in the garage taking in everything including the dead man on the floor and the severed woman's head on the hood of a car. He calmly lit a cigar and took a couple of puffs before saying.

"What's goin on Web-head?"

"Prostitution slash Slavery ring. Run by the owner of the head over there. Her 'workers' were forced into it and any escapees were tracked down and tortured to death by her and her goons. Dead guy on the floor was the worst of the goons."

"Where are the rest of the goons?"

"Up in their rooms. All just as dead at these two."

"Really? Not your usual style."

"Yeah, well my usual style…wouldn't have worked here. I couldn't take the chance the goons would use them as shields so I made sure they couldn't and she was a tracker. Far more than human, fast and strong she could track down anyone whose blood she had tasted. The moment she either escaped or was released they would have been at risk no matter how well they were hidden."

"So why did you call me? Looks like you've got things well in hand."

"Most of them can't go back home for one reason or another and throwing them in the system won't help heal the trauma they've been put through. There's almost always a person in your group who can help with the trauma and I'm hoping either you or one of the others can use the money found here to help set those who can't go home up in a new life."

"Yeah, Chuck has done both on occasion before. We have enough room at the school to board em while things get sorted out. But Peter, you know he won't be easy with what happened here."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I called you direct. I finally understand what he doesn't yet. When you have no choices left you do what you have to. I've accepted the responsibility that comes with my power. But he can disapprove of me all he wants. I know he won't refuse to help these people just because of how I freed them."

"So, you goin all Castle on us then?"

"Hardly. What was done here had to be to make sure they were safe but, this was a fluke. I ran across one of the girls while I was taking care of some other business. This is taking me away from that, but enough of the man I was remains that I couldn't refuse to help."

"Uh huh. Speakin of that other business, I've been following the news lately. A lot of your old foes are turnin up with a bad case of dead. Where they all part of…?"

"Yes."

"Look Peter I'm sorry. I've been in those shoes. Too damn many times!"

"Logan it's just Spider now. Peter's dead with his Wife and Aunt. Don't try and talk me out of this. I'm almost done. I'm not about to stop now. I'm being careful no one is getting caught in the crossfire."

"Peter..Spider whatever, I'm not tryin to stop ya!"

"I said don't… Huh?"

"Damn it! I'm no flammin good at this. Look I'm sayin I'm here for ya if you need a friend, or a drinkin buddy, or just someone to talk to who's been there. Most importantly if you need help with your business you can count on me."

"Logan I…You know I hated you after that trip to Russia."

"Yeah kid. I know."

"I didn't understand then. I do now. You know I need to do this solo."

"Yeah I reckon so. I also know there comes a time when you don't want to be solo anymore. If you get there and need anything let me know."

"Thank you. Come visit me in whatever cage I end up in. If I didn't finish I just might ask you to do it for me."

"Gonna turn yourself in?"

"When I'm done. If I'm not taken down first. You can't be the only hero who's put two and two together. I'm surprised I haven't been tracked down already."

"What are ya gonna do if the good guys do come after ya?"

"If I can't escape I'll surrender. I'm not gonna hurt them." There was silence between them and then Spider continued. "I'm walkin a thin line aren't I Logan?"

"Not as thin as I was afraid of for a while."

"If I cross it will you stop me?"

"I swear if you cross that line and I can't pull ya back, I'll stop ya whatever it takes."

"Thank you again. Now back to the job at hand."

"Leave this to me. I'll get these folks to the school and I know someone who owes me a favor who can erase this place like it never existed. These kids don't need a police investigation into it tracking them down."

"Good. I'm going to take one of these cars and get back to work. See you Logan."

"Take care Spider." The two men shook hands and split up. Spider headed toward a car and Logan toward the others. Hope saw Spider walking away and ran to him.

"Spider wait! Don't leave us?" she called as she approached.

"It's ok Hope. Logan will help all of you. He knows some really good people and they are going to help you get back to living in the real world. Free of the monsters."

I'm sure they're really great people but they didn't free me from this place, you did. I want to go with you."

"You can't."

"Look they did let us watch T.V. here. I know who you are and what was done to you and your family. I'm not trying to replace them, not that I could, but I really think you shouldn't be alone right now. Like that guy Logan I can be your friend if you let me."

"No you can't do that, not yet. I still have some work to do that you can't be a part of."

"Yeah I figured out that bit too." She paused for thought, "You did what you did here to keep us from getting hurt didn't you?"

"Yes."

"And if I went with you, with what you're doin it would put me at risk wouldn't it?"

"Yes it would and I can't allow that. But, like I told Logan you can visit me wherever they end up putting me."

"I will."

"Good. Now rejoin the group and put this place behind you."

"I'll see you Spider." Hope told him as she rejoined the group. Spider looked, for a minute, at the group of people who were about to get their lives back, then turned away and got in a car to drive back to the city and the work that needed to be completed.

Maxwell Dillon came to slowly. His head felt fuzzy and he couldn't focus well at all. His mouth felt vile and his tongue seemed so thick and swollen he was mildly surprised it wasn't choking him. He didn't realize his hands were bound until he tried to raise a hand to scratch his face. In trying to discover why he couldn't move his hands, he found that his entire body except his head was restrained in some type of metal harness that had bands about his; ankles, knees, waist, elbows, chest, and upper arms just under the shoulder. His hands were encased in large metal gauntlets that were firmly attached to the framework around him. He was dismayed to realize he was also very nude. Embarrassing as the situation was it was stupid of his captor to bind him in metal. He could generate more than enough current to melt the metal holding him. He wasn't burn proof though and he knew that getting his hands free was going to involve a lot of pain. He put off drastic action for the moment to further inspect his surroundings. Now that he was paying attention, and his head was clearing some more, he realized that what had seemed like a very small room was actually a large cylindrical tank made of smoky glass that was impossible to see through. It was when he was scanning the top of the tank that he saw the figure of Spider squatting on the rim, staring intently down at him with blazing red eyes in his mask.

"I see you're finally awake Max." Spider said his voice again returned to its glacial coolness.

"Parker! How the hell did you find me? And just what the hell is this contraption supposed to be? Why am I naked? Are you turning gay on me?" Electro asked the last with an insulting slyness.

"I'll be honest with you. You weren't first on my list because it took a while to get this set up for you. By the time I was ready you had gone to ground very well. If you had shown that kind of care and caution from the first we might never have tangled in the first place and you never would have gone to jail. Oh well you didn't and I happened across you the other night by pure chance. Trailing you back to your rooms was easy. I took you while you slept to keep you from putting innocent people at risk. As for this contraption, it's your death."

"Ok burns or no I need out of here." Electro thought and channeled a massive surge of electrical power through his hands. The surge of the framework rising up until he was almost even with Spider standing on the tanks rim caused him to lose focus on his power and as it failed he sank back to the bottom of the tank. "What the Hell?" he exclaimed.

"The metal harness your in is wired into electro magnets beneath you. They are set up so that when you charge them they repel each other causing you to rise up in the air."

"And just how is that supposed to kill me?" Maxwell just couldn't help sneering.

"It doesn't. It allows you to live a little longer." Spider threw a lever on a panel behind him and a small stream of liquid poured from a spigot set in the rim and poured down the side of the tank. "This is why you're naked and what will kill you."

"What? You're giving me a bath? Or are you gonna drown me?"

"No drowning is tempting but would be over way too fast."

"So the high and mighty Spiderman is finally getting his hands dirty?" Electro sneered again.

"Spiderman is dead, thanks in part to you. Spider is all that's left now."

"That was your fault! It never would have happened if you would have just minded your own business!"

"Yes. It was my fault. Had I been strong enough to do what needed doing in the first place you wouldn't have been alive to hurt them. Spiderman wasn't that strong. Spider is."

"What is that you're pouring in here?" Electro asked peering down at the liquid slowly filling the tank gradually approaching the level of his feet as it covered the powerful electro magnets under him.

"It's a mild acid that will slowly eat flesh. Metal and bone will take much longer."

"No! That's…Oh God please don't!" fear thick in his voice now Maxwell Dillon begged the man looking down at him.

"Considering the joy you took in using your powers on my Wife and Aunt did you really expect a quick or peaceful end from me? After all that's not the lesson you taught me was it?" The acid reached the bottom of Maxwell's feet and the caustic liquid started its work. With a cry of pain he triggered his power charging the magnets and raising his harness and himself above the acid. "I see you have realized the out I left you. It is also the reason you are naked. It wouldn't do to have the acid kept close to you when you are above it by having it soak into your clothes."

" What out? This cage won't go above the tank. It will get me regardless!" Maxwell snarled.

"The acid will stop at the level of your shoulders when you are fully submerged in it. When your cage is up as far as it can go your feet will be just above it. If you can stay above it long enough it will finally damage the magnets enough and they will fail. At that time you will fall but a drain will also open. It is possible that you might still be alive when it all drains out. If you are I will set you free and you can try to get medical attention. While that's a possibility, personally I think you'll run out of juice long before the magnets go and the acid will finish you long before it starts to drain."

"Damn you, you son of a AHHH!" Maxwell broke off as the acid flowed up to his feet again and he had to up his power output to rise above it. "I told you, what happened wasn't my fault! If you had just minded your own business they would have never been hurt! You can't hold it against me. It was Goblin's doing anyway! I was just along for the ride! It wasn't my idea! Damn you Spider it was your fault!"

"I would focus on the acid and not me now Max." Spider urged Maxwell and after having to pull his feet out of the acid again Maxwell did. He kept his feet out of the acid by slowly increasing his power until finally the spigot stopped adding more. Maxwell realized he was only at about half the power he could generate but it was a constant drain not short bursts like he was used to. He had never used his power like this before so he had no idea how long he could keep it up but he was deathly afraid it wouldn't be long enough. He was right, after about four hours he started to run down and would suddenly drop a bit and the acid would start to burn his feet again. Each time would spark a renewed effort on his part and he would drag himself back up and out of the acid. Each time however, he would stay above it for less and less time. Finally the time came when despite his best efforts he couldn't fully raise his feet clear of the acid. He started screaming then. The more of his legs that sunk into the acid the louder he howled. His cries stopped suddenly when the acid suddenly rose to cover his genitals. The pain of the acid on these most ender of areas galvanized him as it froze his lungs. With an enormous effort he forced himself back above the surface of the acid but the pain didn't lessen. When his lungs finally unlocked he no longer howled but screeched in agony. So loud and hard were his cries that he actually shredded his vocal cords and his bloody wails were soundless from that point on. Shortly, his renewed effort expended the last of his power and he sank up to his shoulders in acid. His head thrown back he wailed in soundless agony! He lived until the acid ate through his skin and entered his bloodstream and attacked him from the inside as well. Spider waited until the acid had finally stripped the bones clean before he drained the acid away. He then carefully rinsed them off and took them back to the rooms Maxwell had been using when Spider took him and placed them in the middle of the bed with the still fleshed head resting on the pillow. The words, "Only two left Mary Jane", floated softly across the room as he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

ELECTRO FOUND DEAD IN OLTARN HOTEL PENTHOUSE

Police have no leads explaining how this grisly murder was accomplished.

To be continued. Next chapter Chameleon


	13. Chapter 13 Chameleon

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 13 Chameleon

Dmitri Smerdyakov was in deep hiding. As the chameleon he was unsurpassed in the art of infiltration and escape through disguise. But as the news reports showed the results of Spiderman's revenge on those responsible for the deaths of his Wife and Aunt, Dmitri began to bitterly regret his part in it. Those now dead had all been vastly more capable of defending themselves physically than he. It had seemed a fitting and just revenge on Spiderman for Dmitri's many losses to him at the time. But instead of breaking the man it had turned a hindrance into a deadly menace. Dmitri had fled New York and gone to ground in San Francisco. He committed no new crimes. He even had a regular job in his new identity, and he hated it. But it was far preferable to whatever nasty end Spiderman had for him. How had the man managed to track the rest of them down? The Chameleon whished he knew so he could take preventative measures. Well he would just have to hope his current measures were adequate. He relaxed slightly when he saw the headlines on the death of Maxwell Dillon otherwise known as Electro. He figured that meant Spiderman wouldn't even be close to tracking him down yet. He learned just how wrong that assumption was the next morning. There sitting in a chair at the end of his bed was Spiderman, and he was holding the weapon Dmitri habitually slept with!

"Don't bother running Dmitri." The black suited figure with the ominous red eye slits and spider emblems said as the Chameleon looked frantically for an escape route.

"How? How did you find me so fast!" Chameleon asked, shock and panic clearly evident in his voice.

"Fast? Dmitri I've known where you were all along." The tracking spell he'd had Nicholas Scratch put on him had worked flawlessly.

"Then why have you waited all this time? Hell, how do you know who was involved for that matter?"

"I received a disc that detailed everything from their kidnapping to their disposal." Spider's hand clenched around the pistol he was holding. Chameleon watched in horror as the deadly weapon became a wadded up lump of metal. Spider glanced down at the now useless hunk of metal as if he hadn't been aware of having crushed it. He dropped it to the floor where it landed with a solid thud. "With it was a note saying the disc was to help me remember. I now remember every single second of everything that was done to them! Now, knowing that, do you still wonder why I left you for next to last?" The frozen dead tone of voice he used to talk about it had ice forming on the Chameleon's spine.

"Wait. I can…"

"Stop! Don't waste my time trying to talk your way out of this. You used my face as you raped them! You tried to make them think I was part of what was being done to them. You made my Aunt think the boy she had raised and loved as if he was her own child, was raping and torturing her! She died thinking I was part of that! There is nothing you can say that will affect my resolve. I. Will. See. You. Dead." Hearing his fate decreed in such a cold implacable way completely unnerved Dmitri. He didn't even notice when his bowels loosened and he fouled himself and the bed he lay in.

Exactly what would have happened next will never be known. Just as Spider was standing up to approach Dmitri the first shocks of a massive earthquake hit. As the building they were in shuddered and shook Spider shot a line of webbing on Dmitri and leaped out the window pulling Dmitri along with him. Dmitri landed hard in the middle of the street and looked up to see Spider looming over him. "You get to live a little longer. But I'll be back for you." Spider told him and turned away the red on his suit turning white as he swung off to save as many lives as he could from one of the worst earthquakes ever to hit the West Coast. Dmitri barely survived himself. The ground shook so fiercely he was unable to do anything but cower where he had been placed. When the buildings around him collapsed he found he was in the one exact spot where collapsing rubble didn't hit. As soon as the earth settled he got up and ignoring the cries for help all around him he fled hoping to gain some distance before Spider came after him again.

Dmitri went to ground in a small village on the coast of Japan. He lived the simple life of an old fisherman. He lived the role so well that none of the residents of the village could tell he was anything other than a very old man wandering the country in his final years. One day after a very successful trip out the old man came back to shore heavily laden with fish. Overburdened with his heavy load he almost fell but was caught and steadied by a new youth in the village. The young man, who was exploring the small villages near the large city he hailed from, offered to help the elderly man carry his load to the small house where he stayed. The old man gratefully accepted the help and led the way. The two men had just entered the house when the voice of Spider could be heard.

"I told you I would be back for you." The old man straightened and pulled the young man in front of him as a shield. He looked around the hut but only he and the young lad were there. Shocked horror shown from his eyes as the face of the young man, as he turned to look over his shoulder at Dmitri, shifted and flowed into the features of Peter Parker. Then his clothing shifted and flowed into the black and red suit of Spider. Just then screams broke out near the shore and Spider whirled to look out the window. "I just don't believe it! Really?" Spider looked back at Dmitri then out the window again. "Shut up Uncle Ben! I'm going." Spider muttered to himself as he moved toward the door, the colors of his suit again changing from black and red to black and white as he left without a look back. Dmitri ran to the door himself in time to see an enormous humanoid like lizard emerging from the sea. Spider could be seen hurling anything he could get his hands on trying to get its attention on him and move it away from the village. Dmitri couldn't believe it either, but he wasn't going to argue with it. He fled planning to be long gone from the country before his pursuer no longer had something to divert his attention.

Dmitri sank to new lows when he hid in Mexico. He played the part of a very homely middle aged woman who was forced to clean the mansion of one of the major drug lords of the country just to have food to eat. So homely was the woman that she had no fear of being molested as the younger and better looking girls on the cleaning staff often were. However, it also led her to being given the nastiest, most onerous of tasks. As weeks passed Dmitri dared to hope that he had somehow managed to escape. He thought often of moving on but each time he did he remembered the voice of his would be killer vowing his death in that awful dead tone and thought better of it. His stay there ended abruptly one day though when the Drug Lord caught too good a look at him in his disguise and shuddered in horror at the hag. He told one of his constant bodyguards to drag the hideous creature out back and put her out of his misery. He laughed at his humor as Dmitri struggled and wailed as the man drug him by his hair out of the house to the secluded spot where such killings were conducted. Once out of sight Dmitri sought to surprise his would be killer and lashed out trying to disable him and escape his execution. The man seemed to know it was coming and easily avoided the attack and backhanded Dmitri so hard he landed face down, his vision dim.

"Pity. I was enjoying the show." The cold voice of his nightmares said from behind Dmitri. Rolling over in shock he saw that the bodyguard was no longer there but his black and red suited stalker was. "I would have let you continue on like that for a while."

"Spiderman! How do you keep finding me?" Dmitri wailed.

"It's just Spider now." Spider leaned down to grab Dmitri when explosions roared from the edge of the town. From inside the house a voice could be heard yelling about government forces attacking the area. "Are they insane?" Spider exclaimed. "I don't know which side is worse here, the drug lords or the government. There are hundreds of innocent people in this area!" Spider turned and leveled a finger at Dmitri. "Run and hide as best you can! The next time I catch up with you will be the last!" The black and red suit changed to a military looking combat suit as Spider moved to action. He didn't want an international incident so it was carefully unidentifiable. Dmitri quickly left the area once again trying to flee for his life.

Dmitri was desperate! He had fled to the ends of the world and hadn't been able to hide from Spider. He had used the most advanced technology to alter his appearance. His portrayals of his assumed roles had been flawless and still Spider found him with no clue given as to how he had managed it. So this time he went the last place Spider should ever expect him to be, New York City. He had also dumped all of his tech and assumed the role of a panhandler living on the streets of the city. He lived like a homeless person who had no urge to get off the streets. He ate out of dumpsters and drank cheap wine and pissed in back alleys. He lived in a constant state of fright and looked at everyone who approached him as if he expected them to attack him. Which, of course he did. He knew that any person around him could be Spider in disguise. He became so paranoid that even his fellow vagrants would have nothing to do with him. He was skulking down a rat infested alley one night when the shadows came alive and swallowed him whole.

Dmitri came to in a small cell sitting next to a very unconscious convict dressed in an orange jumpsuit. Across the cell from him Spider stood staring at him.

"Your luck finally ran out Dmitri."

"Where are we and who's this next to me?" Dmitri asked. "How did we get here?"

"We are in a maximum security facility in New Hampshire where the man next to you is awaiting execution. He is Carl Mantz the convicted child killer. As for how, that's totally irrelevant."

"Why have you brought me here? I thought you wanted to kill me."

"I'm not just going to kill you. I'm going to repay you. You have lived your life as other people. You have committed atrocities and did so with other people's faces so they could take the blame. It seems fitting to me that you die with someone else's face for a crime you didn't do.

"You can't do that!" Dmitri's voice grew shrill as his desperation rose. "They'll know I'm not him! I don't look anything like him!"

"That's ok. I'll use this." Spider pulled a small disc, with a mesmerizing symbol on it, out and placed it against Carl's forehead. Soon it glowed with a soft red nimbus all around it. Spider then slapped it to Dmitri's forehead before he could evade it and it stuck there and sank into his flesh. Dmitri felt a searing pain as the magic of it took hold of him even as he clawed the skin of his forehead trying to remove the mystic disc. When the pain faded he was dressed exactly as Carl Mantz was and knew he looked like him as well. Desperately he tried one last ploy.

"So that's it? You let a convicted killer of children escape just so you can kill me? You really have fallen haven't you? Some Hero!" Spider seemed unfazed by his words.

"I must say I find it interesting that you who have no morals should try to play on mine to save yourself. Doesn't such blatant hypocrisy turn your stomach? But no, I am no longer a Hero. But you don't have to worry, Carl here won't escape his fate. You and he are linked now. What happens to you will also happen to him."

"But they'll see you and him when they come to the cell!" Dmitri all but pleaded.

"No they won't. Thanks to the spell I acquired for this purpose the person copied is completely undetectable to anyone but the person changed. All they will see is you, looking exactly like him until you die, then Carl here will be visible again. As for me you know I don't have any problems remaining undetected now. Now, you only have about an hour before they come for you. You might want to use the time trying to find a little honest regret for your actions. It might gain you a little clemency in the afterlife." Instead Dmitri's hysteria broke its bonds and he screamed and yelled for the guards crying again and again that he wasn't him! When a couple of guards did approach to investigate the noise they watched him flail madly, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I'm not him!" Dmitri howled repeatedly. Finally one of the guards looked at the other.

"Told ya. They always freak out at the end." He said and they walked away. Dmitri cried and screamed through his visit by the priest and while being carried to the execution room. He never stopped trying to convince anyone who could hear him that he really wasn't Carl Mantz right up until the lethal drugs shot into his system sent him to is final sleep.

Spider watching as a witness from the viewing room watched it all and then muttered, "Only one more and my work will be done." Then he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

THE CHAMELEON EXECUTED AS CARL MANTZ

The real child killer was found dead in his cell afterwards.

To be continued. Next Chapter Green Goblin


	14. Chapter 14 Green Goblin

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 14 Green Goblin

Spider stood behind the massive desk and looked at the disc lying in front of a portable player. The disc was simply labeled Peter. Spider put the disc in the player and when it auto-started he watched the face of Norman Osborn appear on its screen.

"Hello Peter." The recording started. "I'm proud of you son. You have matured more than I ever thought possible for you. I'm proud that I finally managed to rub the façade of Hero away and set free the man under it. But, there are a few smudges left that need to be erased. We'll take care of those soon. Now, I know you want to kill me just like you did all the rest. I must say you impressed me a lot there. I shudder to think what you have planned for me! But in order to get your shot at me you're going to have to come after me here at the largest center for Orphan care in the city. This will be your chance to prove you really have what it takes. See you soon Peter." The message ended and seconds later a wisp of smoke curled up from the player as the message was destroyed in it. Spider sighed at the melodrama of it. Ah well he thought no sense in keeping him waiting any longer. He left the office of Norman Osborn and made his way back up to the roof where he had gained access to the Oscorp building. With his suit completely black in sneaking mode he stepped out onto the roof. As he did he felt a mild tingle from his Spider sense so he wasn't startled when a voice rang out from behind him.

"Peter Parker, stand down and surrender!" Turning around slowly Spider saw four members of the New Warriors standing in a semi-circle around him. Night Thrasher, Speedball, Rage, and some bizarre guy wearing a motorcycle helmet with mirrors on it, stood tensely awaiting his response. Spider turned away from them to leave when Namorita floated up over the lip of the building in his path.

"Ok" Spider thought to himself. "Guess I'll talk to them after all." Turning he faced Night Thrasher and said, "Evening Thrash. Who's the new guy with the goofy get up?"

"My names Hindsight Lad!" the newest member spoke up, obviously irked by the dig on his uniform. "and you're just a common murderer now. Let us take you in quietly and we won't have to hurt you!"

Spider simply stared at Hindsight Lad until he started to fidget and then dismissed him and turned to Night Thrasher. "I respect you for trying to do the right thing with the New Warriors but your recruiting leaves a lot to be desired if he's what you're taking in."

"Yeah well" Night Thrasher grimaced, "it wasn't exactly by choice."

"Let me guess he found your identities and is blackmailing you for a spot on the team right? Spider's eye slits and spider emblems blazed blood red as his voice cooled and grew frigid.

"Yeah" Night Thrasher agreed sullenly. "Considering what happened to you, which we're all damned sorry for, we let him tag along instead of risking our families."

"Hmmm… I can't blame you there. Tell you what I can do. If you want to turn your backs I can take care of the little blackmailer for you." Spider offered in his coldest voice, sending shivers down the New Warrior's spines.

"Don't get all high and mighty Peter Parker!" Hindsight Lad screamed in terror and rage. "You can't turn your nose up at me! You're just a common killer and we're here to put a stop to it!"

"I am a killer." Spider said as he advanced on Hindsight Lad. "I am doing what is needed to keep twelve killers, who have preyed on the innocent over and over, from ever harming anyone again! Right now from what I see you are no better than them"

"How dare you! I'm nothing like them!"

"Wrong! You are exactly like them! Time and time again they would endanger innocent lives to try and force Heroes to let them have their way. And you are doing nothing less than that by threatening to reveal the identities of the New Warriors. Do you honestly think their enemies won't do to their families exactly what was done to mine! You might as well come right out and say if you don't let me play with you cool kids I'm going to have your loved ones Raped, and Tortured, and Killed! You call me a common killer and I can't really argue with that but I certainly can look down on you. I have only killed to save lives or end those who have killed innocent people and would have done so again. You would kill innocent people just to get your own way. You're no better than those I have killed and I can easily accept your death on my soul to protect the New Warriors." Hindsight Lad pissed himself as Spider's hands slowly rose for his throat.

"Hang on Peter! Leave him be. We'll find a way to deal with him that doesn't involve killing him." Night Thrasher said.

"All right it's your choice. I hope for your sake it doesn't go bad on you."

"Yeah me too. But we didn't come here to discuss our problems. We're here for you. You've gone way over the line and you need to be stopped Peter."

"Look Thrash, first of all it's just Spider now. Peter Parker died with his Wife and Aunt. Second you have no proof that I have done anything. So even if you beat me down and turn me in I'll be out on the streets in no time. Unless you make sure I can never kill anyone ever again but if you are ok with that you have no reason to stop me in the first place, do you. At this very moment I am breaking no laws so you have absolutely no legal right to hinder me in any way. But I know that none of this is going to sway you so I'll simply say this. You can't stop me and I have no wish to hurt any of you, except for Hindsight Lad there. I'm asking you not to try.

"Come on Spider. You know we can't do that. You wouldn't have before everything happened and we can't now. I don't know why no one else has stepped up to stop you but now that we're here we can't let you go. I'm sorry."

"Yeah me too Thrash, me to." Spider took a step towards Night Thrasher leaving his back wide open. As he expected, Namorita's arms wrapped around him from behind holding him with more strength than he, even with his new power, could break. Spider looked over his shoulder into Namorita's face and saw tears streaming from her eyes and coursing unchecked down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry!" she said.

"Me too." Spider replied softly and bringing a hand up as far as possible shot webbing right in her face. Her only response was to wrap her legs around him as well, ensuring that he wouldn't break free of her hold. Instead of trying Spider only pivoted at the last instant so that Rage's roundhouse caught Namorita instead of him. The blow wasn't capable of truly harming someone able to live in the incredible pressures at the bottom of the sea, but it did momentarily stun her and knock her off of Spider's back. Aghast at what he had inadvertently done Rage didn't even see the kick from Spider that landed square in his sternum and flung him across the roof to land in a heap trying to catch his breath. Speedball tried jumping Spider from behind with a kinetically enhanced blow but Spider ducked easily and shoved up on Speedball just enough to have him sailing over the edge of the roof and out of sight. With his ability to absorb kinetic energy the fall wouldn't hurt Speedball but it would keep him out of the fight until he hit the ground and bounced back up. Night Thrasher was on Spider now trying to catch him with the stunners he had built into his gauntlets. He never got close but wouldn't stop trying, punctuating each effort with a sharp hiss or grunt of effort. Spider learned why when Namorita flew in using Night Thrasher's sounds to locate him. Spider leapt clear and webbed up her right ear. Then as she turned to listen with her other ear he webbed that up as well and then grabbing a winged ankle he flung her high into the air. By the time she got her flight under control she had no idea where the fight was and, deaf and blind, had no way to find it. Fuming she hovered in midair knowing that ripping off the webbing would cost her an eyelid or an ear. Damn she hated losing! Back on the rooftop Spider was again avoiding Night Thrasher's strikes. Rage, having finally caught his breath, rushed Spider from behind only to have Spider trip him as he easily dodged the large man. Rage went sprawling face down on the rooftop and found himself webbed securely in place. Spider casually avoided more blows from Night Thrasher and then reached in and grasping the front and back of his body armor at the neck ripped it off him in two separate pieces. The front piece landed in a corner and the back piece with his pack landed at Hindsight Lad's feet. A burst of webbing secured Night Thrasher's feet to the ground and immobilized him.

"It's over Thrasher! I don't have time to waste here. Don't try and follow me." Spider said.

"Spider I…Oh no!" Night Thrasher gasped. Spider whirled around and saw a tragedy in the making. Hindsight Lad had dug in Night Thrasher's pack and was coming up with one of his automatic weapons in hand, a look of rage on his face. Behind him Speedball had finally bounced his way back to the roof but his uncontrolled landing was bringing him down right on Hindsight Lad. The Uzi wasn't in line with Spider yet, but was pointed directly at Night Thrasher as Speedball hit him. Night thrashers vision went black and then smeared red as he heard the burst of gunfire. I'm dead he thought then he realized the reason his vision was smeared red was due to Spider standing right in front of him. The dark form collapsed to his hands and knees and then rolled to his back, still and motionless.

"Carlton! I told you to never touch those weapons!" Night Thrasher yelled at Hindsight Lad as the young man approached the motionless figure on the ground.

"Shut Up Dwayne!" Hindsight Lad fired back. He walked up and despite a bad case of the shakes pointed the weapon at the prone form of Spider and triggered another burst into the motionless form. Speedball grabbed the weapon from behind but Hindsight Lad simply let the tug pull his aim to Speedball's chest and triggered another burst. The bullets couldn't hurt Speedball but the kinetic rebound from their point blank impact sent him flying over the edge of the roof again. Hindsight Lad turned back to Night Thrasher just in time to catch a blow from a stun gauntlet right in the chest. He dropped fast and hard. Night Thrasher removed his boots, which were still webbed to the roof, and kicked the weapon away from Hindsight Lad's still twitching fingers.

"You crazy bastard!" Night Thrasher yelled at Hindsight Lad. "Are you trying to kill us all?"

"You heard him! He was gonna kill me! I had to protect myself!" Hindsight Lad yelled back, barely understandable as his body was still convulsing from the stun shot. "He was gonna kill all of us!"

"What are you talking about? He was being gentle with us. He was taking great pains not to even hurt us much less kill us. We've all taken rougher hits from our own training sessions. God! We weren't that outmatched when we fought Terrax! Not only did he not kill us he stepped in front of me and took the bullets you would have killed me with!"

"You can't blame me for that! It wasn't my fault! If you had only taken him down right away instead of trying to talk him down like I ordered you to, none of this would have happened!"

"You don't give the orders Carlton. This is still my team."

"Not anymore it's not! From here on out I call the shots and if all of you want to keep your secrets intact you'll start following orders!"

"Not the best way to make friends and influence people Carlton." Spider said. The two looked down in amazement and saw the eye slits and spider emblems blazing red as the bullets pushed back out of Spider's suit as he sat up.

"Did you know you could do that when you stepped in front of me?" Night Thrasher asked Spider.

"I knew it was theoretically possible. Not having ever practiced it before I wasn't sure."

"Yet you still stepped up?"

"Yeah, well I'm not so far over the line that I'd let you die for doing what you thought was right. As for you", Spider turned to Hindsight Lad. "the first rounds were fired unintentionally I'll grant that. The next burst you deliberately put in a helpless, or so you thought, person. Who's the common killer now? For myself I don't really care but if you post their identities I will track you down and finish what I threatened you with earlier. I will kill you!"

"Are you gonna let him threaten me?" Hindsight Lad asked Night Thrasher. "I order you to protect me!"

"No I'm not going to let him kill you." Night Thrasher said.

"Good! Now our next task will…"

"Shut Up Carlton! I was willing to play along while I thought you weren't really serious about revealing us but now… None of us will ever believe we are safe around you again. If you reveal us Spider won't get the chance to kill you because I'll do it first! And if any of our families are hurt because of you, you will spend weeks wishing Spider had gotten to you before me!" Night Thrasher vowed and did so with such force that Carlton crumpled and shuddered as all his plans fell apart. Spider turned and shot a web line out and up to snag Namorita's foot with it. A couple of tugs had her pulling her way hand over hand down toward the proper building.

"I'm leaving now Thrash." Spider said. "The webbing on everyone should dissolve in about an hour."

"Spider, I really ought to try and stop you, but I'm not gonna get in the way of the man who saved my life at the risk of his own. Good hunting."

By the time Spider swung to the orphanage the Green Goblin was at, the Goblin had all the children and staff tied up on the roof around him as he stood on a waist high four by four platform laughing! As Spider got closer he saw a dead man's switch in his hand and could tell that the platform was encircled by military type claymore mines. There were enough mines that if they were triggered there would only be shreds of flesh left of the closest children and none of them would escape alive.

"Norman! What are you doing?" Spider called out from his perch on the nearest building.

"Ah Peter! You finally decided to show up!" Osborn replied. "I was beginning to think you were going to disappoint me."

"It's Spider now Norman. Just Spider. This is your set up Norman, you want to lay down the ground rules here?"

"It's really rather simple! The mines encircling me are attached to both the platform I'm standing on and the dead man's switch I'm holding. If the weight on the platform goes up or down, BOOM! If my finger releases the trigger it's holding down BOOM! If my heart stops or my thumb pushes the button it's on BOOM! There are more than enough mines to make greasy little smears out of everyone up here."

"Why the elaborate set up Norman? Are you that cowardly?"

"Not at all Peter. I am simply testing your resolve! You can take your revenge and accept the cost of it or you can walk away and prove that you're still weak and spineless!"

"I can tell you now Norman I'm not going to kill these kids just to get to you."

"So you are still weak and spineless despite everything! Since that's the case you must die! You are going to walk over here and let me kill you or I'll set the mines off. Start moving now!" Osborn laughed his high maniacal Goblin laughter as Spider leapt to the edge of the roof and carefully placing his hands behind his back he slowly walked towards the Green Goblin. He stopped just outside of Osborn's reach and thought carefully about what he wanted to happen. "You've disappointed me for the last time Peter! It's time to put you out of my misery!" Osborn reached out to clamp his free hand over Spider's throat when Spider pulled a glowing blue orb from behind his back and flipped it at Osborne! Osborne jerked back as the sphere struck his chest and started to glow brighter! "Naughty boy Peter! Now you pay!" Osborn hit the button on his trigger and the platform turned into a shield slamming over Osborn but before anything else could happen Osborn, shield, and mines all disappeared in a bright blue flash! Seconds later a sharp retort could be heard from a long distance off.

"Well that worked better than I hoped it would." Spider said to himself as he freed one of the orphanage staff members so he could free the others and take care of the weeping children. Then he pulled another blue sphere and used it to teleport himself toward his last target.

Spider appeared in a secluded spot in the country well outside of the city. In the center of the clearing was a crater blasted in the ground. In the center of the crater was the severely battered shield. Spider faded into the shadows to observe. Like an egg about to hatch the oval shield started to shake and rock as something inside started to stir. After long moments of internal effort a long crack appeared in the shield surface. Now from inside could be heard the high pitched insane cackling laughter of the Green Goblin punctuated by the grunts of effort as he struggled to free himself from the shield that had saved him from the blast of so many mines.

"Ha! Ha ha ha haaa! Peter? Are you alive out there?" The Goblin's voice called out from inside. "You have grown boy! I didn't really believe you had! Ugh! Those mines really did more damage to this than I thought they would. I can only imagine what they did to those poor little orphans!" More maniacal laughter floated out at this. "Come on Peter! Come help your old man out!" Metal groaned as it slowly shifted. "You are my son now Peter. I know you're out there. After all my traps that you've avoided there's no way this one would have caught you!" The crack in the shield shifted wider. "Peter! What's going on out there? Why is it so dark? City light should be visible by now. I should be able to hear the emergency sirens! Peter! What have you done?" A combination of worry and anger were rising in the Goblin's voice. With a shriek of tortured metal the shield finally gave way and split in two parts. "What the..?" The Green Goblin asked in evident confusion as he stood up in the clearing that was completely dark except for the dim starlight beaming down from above. "Where am I? Peter! What have you done? Speak to me you rotten child! I can feel your presence! Where the hell are we?" Anger flared in every movement as the Green Goblin reached up and yanked off his mask.

"I've brought us where we can have a private little chat without random explosions threatening children." Spider's cold voice sounded from behind Osborn. Osborn spun around but couldn't see anything at first. Then as he stared into the shadows the red eyes and spider emblem slowly grew brighter until they blazed out of the shadows at him.

"So you did it then didn't you?" Osborn asked him in a mournful tone. You still sacrifice your own wants and desires just to save the pitiful pathetic lives of others! You've failed me again and ruined everything!" Rage seared from him. "How!"

"It's what you always do. I knew you would do it again. You desperately want to drag others down to your level. You can't stand the fact that others place value on the lives of those around them. Over and over again you've tried to put people, to put me, in a position where my actions willfully cause the deaths of those I value. So I knew you would put others at risk when I came for you. I arranged beforehand to acquire these teleport globes that respond to my will alone. I sent you and all your little toys here to this clearing before they went off. You're the only one who got to enjoy them. Sorry about that."

"Damn you Peter! You're no son of mine!" Osborn paused as a vindictive light gleamed in his eyes. "But I have influenced you haven't I? You never killed before but you have eleven deaths to your credit now! I have turned Peter Parker into a killer! Ha! Ha ha ha haaa!" Osborn threw back his head and howled maniacal laughter!

"You have influenced me, but not the way you think. I still value life. I value life more than I ever have before. I value it so much now that I will gladly end those who don't. I have learned that the lives of those like you who would cheerfully kill those who would never harm another are worth sacrificing to save those they would have killed in the future. So yes I am a killer now but I am still the opposite of you in every way that truly matters. I love others more than ever before and you can't even grasp the concept and never will."

"Damn you Peter! You refuse to become what you should! This was your last chance, since you refuse to learn, You Will Die!" Osborn flung himself at Spider flailing with all the might a double dose of the formula that had initially turned him into the Green Goblin had given him. Spider avoided the initial blows and grabbed Osborn's Goblin costume near the neck and used it to pull Osborn into a vicious blow to his midsection. A second blow to Osborn's face was so powerful that his tunic ripped away leaving shreds in Spider's hand as he was thrown across the clearing to land in a heap. Once again maniacal laughter came from Osborn's form as he slowly stood. As he faced Spider across the clearing only the light of insanity could be seen gleaming in his eyes. Totally irrational he attacked over and over and although their titanic battle raged back and forth across the clearing, in the end Osborn lay beaten and unable to rise again from his position at Spider's feet. Spider stood starring at his beaten foe for a long time and then he pulled out his last magical teleportation orb and both men vanished in a flash of blue light.

Norman Osborn regained consciousness faster than he regained what little sanity was left him. Finally rational, more or less, he took in his surroundings and his situation.

"So Peter, I see you found the place where we entertained your Wife and Aunt." Chains rattled as he tried to roll off the table where Mary Jane Parker had spent her last hours. He sneered at the chains holding him and yanked hard on them. The sneer melted from his expression when they didn't snap. He tried again harder to no avail. He tried again with all his might but couldn't so much as stretch a link. As he lay there panting Spider made his presence known.

"No I haven't located that place. I have recreated it fairly well though."

"What have you done to me? I should be able to snap these chains easily."

"I'm sapping your physical strength. Your healing ability remains in effect or you probably would have never regained consciousness again. As it is you get to start your last hours of life in perfect health."

"That's very kind of you. I notice I'm in the same spot as your precious Mary Jane. Am I to suffer her fate as well?"

"Yes Norman. You will endure what you so casually inflicted on them."

"All by yourself? My, how…perverted!"

"No Norman. The only thing I did to Mary Jane and Aunt May was not putting a stop to it. I shall do exactly the same here. They are the ones who will do to you what was done to Mary Jane." A door on the far wall opened and a line of figures entered the room.

"Are you conjuring the dead now Peter? Or were the stories of their deaths greatly exaggerated?" Unease was starting to show on Osborn's face and to be heard in his voice.

"Oh no, they are all good and safely dead. These are merely simulations able to look, act, and perform exactly like the originals. Unlike Mary Jane though you will know exactly what's going to happen to you."

"Oh Peter, don't you understand? So much of what was done to Mary Jane was only as effective as it was because she was female. I'm not."

"Yes Norman I know. That's why I have one last little bit of magic left." Spider produced a talisman and held it up for Norman to see. It seemed a simple smooth round disc one inch in diameter and blue on one side and pink on the other.

"What is that? Keep it away from me!" Panic flared as Spider approached him and placed the disc on Norman's chest blue side up. A blue glow appeared on the talisman and slowly spread until Norman was haloed in its blue glow. "Ha! It doesn't do anything!" Spider merely tilted his head looking at Norman and then reached out and flipped the talisman over so the pink side faced up. Norman screamed in agony as the halo of light around him slowly turned purple. His cries grew louder and shriller as, just as slowly, the light went from purple to pink. Once the light around Norman stabilized Spider reached out again and picked it up from where it lay between her breasts. Looking down in horror at her new attributes, revealed through the tatters of her tunic, Norman screamed a high pitched cry of rage and fear. Sweat beaded on her body as she struggled against her bonds. "No Peter you can't do this to me!" She cried. Spider stepped back as the first of the simulacrums approached.

"I do this to you just as you did it to them. Now we see how you measure up. Even with your healing ability I don't think you can outlast Mary Jane." Then Spider stopped talking and stood still and watched as Norman's screams grew louder and higher until she broke and sobbed in mindless pain. Spider was proven right in the end. Despite her healing ability Norman only lasted half as long as Mary Jane had before her mind completely shut down and took her body with it. Like Mary Jane, Norman died calling for Peter to save her. Unlike Mary Jane, Norman had no real hope of being saved. Spider wasn't sure which was worse. When it was over the magic of the single use talisman faded and Norman's body reverted to being male. Making sure Norman would stay dead this time, Spider removed his head and tied it to his hands before hanging the corpse from a flagpole on the Daily Bugle building. As he stood looking at the results of his work the red faded from his eye slits and spider emblems and they turned a bright shiny black, visible against the light absorbing black of the rest of his suit. Then he turned and walked away.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

GREEN GOBLIN'S BROKEN BODY LEFT ON BUGLE BUILDING FLAGPOLE

DNA Testing Reveals That Green Goblin Was Norman Osborn

To be concluded. Next Ch. Epilogue


	15. Chapter 15 Epilogue

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 15 Epilogue

Nicholas Scratch shouldn't have been surprised. He had followed the trail of bodies as reported in the papers. He knew that Norman Osborn was the last on Spider's hit list when he saw how he disposed of the body. And he had sensed the last of the talismans made with his magic being used. But the sudden tap on his shoulder from behind still almost scared the crap out of him! Scratch was glad it was only almost, he was on his last clean pair until he did laundry. Whirling he stared at the black on black clad figure while his racing heart slowed.

"Damn Spider! Can't you knock or something?"  
"Sorry Scratch." Spider didn't sound all that sorry but neither was his voice as cold now either. Spider reached out and handed a slip of paper to Scratch. "Here's the info on the accounts holding the rest of your money."

"I felt you use the last of the talismans I made for you." Scratch said as he took the paper. "Did they work as you wanted?"

"You did good work Scratch. They did exactly what I wanted."

"Good. It was worth the sacrifice then."

"What sacrifice?" Spider's voice had gone cold again. "If you hurt anyone to make…"

"Relax Spider! The only thing I sacrificed was my mystical power and with it my plans against my Mother."

"Your power. How?" Spider asked the coldness leaving his voice.

"It took every bit of power I had ever stored up to make items that would do what you needed and be useable by someone other than myself. I could have used blood magic to make them instead but I rather figured you would seriously disapprove of that. So I did it the other way. It would take me a decade or more to regain all the power I expended on your behalf."

"I didn't know. Why?"

"Why would I make such a sacrifice? It wasn't for you or your personal mission that's for sure. The fact is I was tired of fighting to gather power just to waste it all in fruitless contests with my Mother. With the money you offered me for those talismans I can relax and maybe even enjoy life a little now. Money may not buy true happiness but it can provide plenty of creature comforts and luxury. I can live with that for now."

"Fair enough. Take it easy Scratch."

"Farewell Spider." Scratch said as he turned around and even though he listened carefully he never heard Spider leave.

J. Jonah Jameson was alone in his office on the top floor of the Daily Bugle building staring at nothing. He didn't even jump when a voice spoke from the open window behind him.

"J. Jonah Jameson." Spider's voice had regained all its coldness as he addressed the man he blamed more than anyone but himself for the deaths of his Wife and Aunt.

"Peter" Jameson replied, "I wondered when you would come for me." Jameson's voice sounded dead.

"So sorry to have kept you waiting so long." Spider's voice lost the coldness as the bitterness rose.

"You blame me for what happened don't you?" Jameson's words were more a statement than a real question.

"Shouldn't I?" The coldness was completely gone now as white hot fury ripped out of Spider now. "I accepted your irrational hatred of Spiderman all these years as just the petty acts of a Jackass! Despite all the good I did even saving your miserable life several times you still did everything you could, even printing bald faced lies about me, to try and stir the public against me. I let it slide because I didn't do any of it for good press! I did it because I believed I had a responsibility to use my power to help those who needed it. Meanwhile you hired men to warp other men or make machines to capture or kill me and I let it all slide because despite everything I didn't believe you were truly evil. What really pisses me off is that I still don't believe you're truly evil! But, you better believe that I blame you for what happened! You let your personal pointless vendetta against me ruin any journalistic integrity you might have had once. Despite all the painfully obvious reasons for keeping my identity secret you just had to make front page news of it and because you did the two people I loved the most were Tortured, Raped, and Killed! You tell me why I shouldn't blame you?" Spider was screaming at Jameson as he finished his rant. Jameson who hadn't stirred at all during Spider's tirade looked at him now and his eyes were dead.

"There is no reason for you not to. Everything you said is nothing but the Gods honest truth. I am responsible for their deaths and there is nothing I can do to atone for it. Nothing but die myself." Jonah stood now and turned to face Spider directly. His face showed the ravages of grief and precious little sleep. There were large dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks were sunken and gaunt. Always a fit and robust man, Jameson now moved as if he was thirty years older than he was. He looked Spider square in the eyes when he spoke again. "I've been following what you've done with the others. You were very inventive with them. I don't know what you have planned for me but I'm ready. The only reason I haven't taken myself out is because I figure you should have the choice of where, when, and how."

"I want to! You have no idea how badly I want to! How many times I've envisioned my hands around your throat squeezing!" Spider stopped, his chest heaving with the emotions that he was so very close to losing control of.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Jameson's reserve broke and he raged now himself. "Damn it Peter! You are the only passible person that could want me dead more than I do! So do it already!"

"No." Spider's voice had gone cold again. "You'll do worse than die. You… you will live. Live knowing exactly what you caused!" Spider pulled out a copy of the disc he had been given. "Put that in your computer there and watch the whole thing." Jameson woodenly picked up the disc, put it in his system and started watching. Tears, unnoticed, ran down his face constantly and he lost it several times and retched uncontrollably with dry heaves, but he never once took his eyes off the video of the consequences of his senseless vendetta against Spiderman. When it was finally over he slowly turned to the black on black clad figure who had watched it all again with him.

"What happens now?" he croaked out in a voice broken with grief, sorrow, and endless retching.

"Now you pay the price. Now you live with the knowledge of what has happened. You live and accept that with Great Power comes Great Responsibility! I failed to act responsibly with my power once and it cost me my Uncle Ben. You and I both failed to do so with my identity and it cost us Mary Jane and Aunt May. You live and use your power responsibly to help whenever and where ever you can.

"I would rather you just kill me. I don't…I don't know if I can live with this." Jameson sobbed.

"You don't get that choice! You said it yourself. I get the choice on when, where, and how. I sentence you to live and earn redemption!" Jameson closed his eyes for long moments then opened them and looked again at Spider. While none of the grief and sorrow had left them, resolve had joined them there.

"I will. I will live and although I can never earn it I will never stop working for redemption for the deaths of May Parker, Mary Jane Parker, and Peter Parker. But, what of you? What will you do now?" Spider looked at Jameson for long moments of his own then his suit pulled back from his head and the rest of it transformed into street clothes.

"I have two more stops left to make and then it will be my turn to face justice." Spider leapt to the window and crawled out of sight around the corner of the building. Jameson went home to his family and started thinking long and hard about Power and Responsibility.

Spider, still wearing his street clothes, stood in the lobby of the Four Freedoms Plaza and waited to be met. The central elevator dinged and its doors opened to reveal Johnnie Storm, also known as the Human Torch, one fourth of the famous and well liked Fantastic Four. Johnnie walked to Spider and offered a hand.

"Pete what are you doin waiting in the lobby? You know you're cleared to head up to the top." Spider took the offered hand and shook it firmly.

"Considering recent events I wasn't sure if that was still the case. That and I know Reed and Sue were hurt by Carnage. Wasn't sure if they were up for visitors yet but I wanted to come by and check on them."

"Come on up. We'll talk." The two men entered the elevator and headed up. When the doors opened and they stepped out they found their way blocked by Ben Grimm. Ben reached out and gently placed one of his massive orange rock skinned hands on Spider's shoulder.

"Peter, two things. One I'm damned sorry about what happened to your family. Two I'm also pretty damned pissed at you!" Spider paled at the Thing's disapproval but stood firm before it.

"Ben I know you can't condone what I've done but I…"

"That's not why I'm pissed Webhead!" Ben broke in. "I'm pissed cause ya didn't let Johnnie or me give ya a hand with any of it!"

"I couldn't. I couldn't let anyone I know find out about what I planned. I couldn't ask good men and women, people I respect and look up to, to stand aside while I broke the law. I also couldn't take the chance that they not only wouldn't stand aside but would try to stop me."

"Pete", Johnnie said, "The FF is family. We understand. Just thinking about that happening to Sue has caused me to go Nova three times. The only way we would have tried to stop you was if you had lost it and didn't care who you hurt reaching your goal. You didn't so we stayed out of it."

"Yeah? Well I'm still pissed." Ben said. "but I do understand. Probly woulda done the same myself. But you didn't come here to blather about this did ya? You wanna see Reed and Sue. Come on, they're here now. We almost lost Sue but she fought her way back." Spider was led into a room with two separate beds. Spider knelt between them and took their hands.

"How are you? I heard it was touch and go for a while." Spider said to Reed and Sue.

"We're going to make it." Reed answered. "My elastic physiology makes me hard to injure but also slow to heal. Sue took some severe internal damage and we did almost lose her but she managed to pull through and should make a full recovery." Spider bowed his head at hearing how close Sue Richards had come to dying.

"I'm sorry. I know how dangerous he was. I should have moved on him sooner." Spider felt an invisible hand tenderly cup his chin and raise his head so Sue could look him in the eyes. The pain in her eyes from her injuries was mingled with grief and compassion for him.

"You have no blame for this. You have great power and are greatly responsible with it but I know you have learned by now that you can't be everywhere and protect everyone all the time. The only ones responsible for our injuries are ourselves and Carnage." A shudder ran through her at the thought of Carnage.

"I don't know if its welcome news to you or not but Carnage will never hurt anyone ever again." Spider said. He noticed that, at the same time their hands gently squeezed his, subtle tension lines eased on their brows and Sue let a small sigh of relief escape her.

"It saddens me that it was necessary." Sue said. "But, I for one do not regret it being done."

"Ya saved me from tracking him down and doing it myself." Ben Grimm said from the doorway.

"I'm glad you're going to be ok. I'm sorry I can't stay longer but I have to go." Spider stood up and started heading toward the door.

"Please don't do anything foolish son." Reed said. Spider turned in the doorway.

"Foolish is relative depending on who you ask. But, I don't think anyone whose opinion means anything to me will be grieved by what I have left to do. Take care of your family." and Spider turned and walked out.

Spider approached the Avengers Mansion carrying a long thick case in hand as he approached the gates. He stopped at the intercom and hit the call button. The face of Jarvis appeared on screen in moments.

"Good day. How may I…Mr. Parker, what are you doing standing at the front gates? You do have full access."

"Hello Jarvis. This is kind of an official visit. I didn't want to just barge in."

"Very well you have observed the formalities, now please come inside." Spider entered the gates as they silently swung open. He idly wondered as he paced up the walk to the Mansion, if he would ever have this kind of access to this place and these people again. He knew it wouldn't have changed his decisions and actions if he didn't but he couldn't help but wonder. Jarvis greeted him just inside the front entrance.

"Mr. Parker how can I help you?"

"Is the team in?" Spider asked hopefully. Chances were always good that the Avengers were out in the field saving the day at any given time.

"Yes, they are currently in residence and in conference together as well as most of the reserve members."

"Ok" Spider gathered his resolve. "If I may I need to speak with them."

"Come with me then." Jarvis led Spider deep into the Mansion and straight to the large conference room where the current team and many of its reserve members were meeting. The two men stopped just inside the door as everyone in the room broke off their discussions to look at them curiously.

"Mr. Parker had requested the opportunity to speak with you." Jarvis announced and then faded back out the door. Steve Rogers, Captain America, stood.

"Please Peter, come in. What brings you here?"

"Thanks Cap." Spider said as he approached the main table. "You all know what was done to my family, at least in part. I know that most of you have to have realized who has been behind the recent string of deaths occurring to certain long time villains of mine. Frankly I don't know why you haven't tracked me down and stopped me, but I am here to surrender myself." She Hulk, Jennifer Walters, leapt up from her seat.

"As your attorney I counsel you to say nothing further!" she said quickly. Spider turned to look at her calmly.

"Why Jen, I wasn't aware I had you on retainer." Spider said touched by her instant offer of legal counsel.

"Look Peter, I can't force you to accept me but please if you're determined to do this let me be your representative!"

"If it comes to that I will, but I'm not yet turning myself in to mortal authorities." At these words Thor looked closely at him.

"And why shouldst Immortals take an interest in these matters?" The Asgardian God of Thunder and Lightning asked as he stood up as well. Spider laid his case on the table and opened it.

"Because of this." Spider lifted the Thunderstrike mace out of the case's velvet lining. As soon as it cleared the case, the case turned fluid and was absorbed into Spider's clothing. "I found this during my preparation for the work I had to do. I knew who it had been given to and why. I knew the sacrifice he made to end the danger of the Bloodaxe. Instead of returning it to you immediately, I used it when I killed Tombstone. Even with the greater power I gained by taking the alien symbiote back from the Scorpion I needed a virtually unbreakable weapon like this to put an end to Tombstone. I return it now to you and submit myself to whatever justice decreed by you and your Father Odin for my unauthorized use of it." Thor reached out and grasped the mace as Spider offered it up to him.

"Allow me to make sure I understand thee correctly. Thou came across an Asgardian weapon, made for battle, and used it to slay a foe who hadst brutalized and killed thine family. A foe who, had he been left free, wouldst have undoubtedly slaughtered more such innocents. Is this an accurate summation?" Thor looked sternly down at Spider as he spoke.

"It is." Spider answered firmly while looking Thor directly in the eyes.

"Verily well, this is my decree…"

"Wait Thor!" She Hulk broke in. "Isn't there a chance for others to weigh in on this matter?"

"If there were more information that needed to be offered in either defense or accusation then aye others could speak. However his own statement hast offered all the facts of the matter. As the one facing judgment it falls to him to call for others to speak if they have information he dost not that he feels is relevant."

"May I speak then of his character before you pass judgment?"

"Jennifer Walters do thou believe that I, who have stood side by side with this man in the defense of Asgard itself, do not know his character?"

"No." she said sounding defeated.

"That is well, for well do I know the character of this man. He hast willingly subjected himself to the authority of Asgard in this matter. That authority belongs to the All Father Odin. In his absence I, his son and Heir, am obligated to pass judgment. Peter Parker it is my judgment that thou hast done nothing but honor this weapon and Asgard by thine actions with it." Thor broke off as several gasps of surprise sounded in the room. "Some of you seem surprised by this?" Thor addressed them.

Delroy Garrett, known as Triathlon, responded. "Look it may make me unpopular to say this but he did use it to break the law. Regardless of the provocation he used that weapon to kill."

"Aye, tis true!" Thor beamed. "What thou must remember is that he has submitted to Asgard authority regarding his use of this weapon, not to thy Midgard authority. Wars are still a common occurrence in Asgard, as our recent sojourn therein proved. And in war thou defeat and kill thine foes or they kill thee. What was done to this man's family here was no less an act of War than the Frost Giants storming the walls of Asgard as viewed by my culture. The base villains who committed those cowardly deeds declared war on Peter Parker and every man, woman, and being who have the courage to stand for what is right and defend the innocent. He acted as a warrior true and faced those who wronged him in the best example of a true warrior that I have seen in a long while. Indeed once I have spread the news of his acts, the halls of Valhalla will resound with the salutations of the warriors that reside there awaiting Ragnarock. Even the Warriors Three some of Asgard's most noble and valiant heroes will gladly raise their mugs in toast to his deeds." Thor now looked directly at Spider. "Greatly am I honored by thine use of it and gratified by its return. Verily I find that I am in your debt for its return. Should thou ever need assistance you have but to call on me and I shall respond."

"Thank You Thor." Spider said deeply moved at having a God hold him in such high regard. He then turned to face Steve Rogers. "Cap I'm here to turn myself in for my role in the deaths of; the Hobgoblin, Tombstone, the Rhino, Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, the Carnage symbiote and its host, the Shocker, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, the Chameleon, and the Green Goblin."

"Stop right there Peter!" Jennifer stepped up to Spider's side. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do Jen. I have broken the law and I must face its justice. As I sat there in my empty house after the funeral for my Wife and Aunt this disc was delivered to me. It shows exactly what was done to them and by whom. Watching this killed Peter Parker! He is dead with Mary Jane and Aunt May. Spiderman died as well. All that's left of the man I was is Spider. Melodramatic? Maybe, but can you really blame me. But, I still believe that with great power comes great responsibility. It's all I have left really. I accepted the work of ending the lives of those men. I combined revenge with protection. They will never endanger innocent people again and they paid bitterly for those they harmed. As the final act of my work I must do what they wouldn't and accept responsibility for my actions as they never would. I will not try to excuse my actions or claim I'm not to blame for them. I am sane, or at least I believe so. All I have left is my responsibility and in honor of Mary Jane, May, and Ben Parker I will not give it up. It's all I have left that makes me better than those I killed."

Steve Rogers, Captain America, the man who had been the icon of America during the harshest fighting of World War II and who had been trapped in frozen suspended animation for decades stiffened to attention and saluted the man standing before him. "Son you make me proud to have fought at your side. Regardless of the outcome of this I am honored to know you and will gladly fight alongside you again should the chance occur. Come let's get this done."

"Order in the court!" the bailiff called out. "Please stand for the honorable Judge Stewert presiding!" The people packed into the courtroom stood while the judge entered from his chambers and waited for his command before taking their seats again. The judge took a moment and looked out at the crowd of people in his courtroom and quailed just a bit inside. Although there were no costumes worn there were several well-known super heroes present. Jennifer Walters and Steve Rogers sat with Peter Parker at the defense table. Johnnie Storm and Ben Grim of the Fantastic Four were in attendance as well. Judge Stewert fully believed that at least half the people present were no less prominent in the community of heroes even if he didn't recognize them in civilian attire. Maintaining order was vital with this many powered people in attendance. He hoped he was up to the task. He looked over to the district attorney and began.

"Prosecutor. In the matter of the State of New York vs. Peter Parker what charges are being filed?"

"Your Honor." DA Janet Burns said as she rose to her feet. "Based on the video evidence presented to our office by Mr. Parker himself, twelve charges of first degree murder are being filed for the deaths of…" The silence of the audience grew charged as she read off the names of some of the worst villains New York had ever faced.

"I understood that there were more deaths attributed to Mr. Parker than those twelve men." the judge inquired of the DA.

"You refer, your Honor, to the fifteen men and one woman Mr. Parker has also confessed to killing at the site of the slavery slash prostitution ring a short distance from the city? Mr. Parker also presented full video of that occurrence as well. In conjunction with that video and interviews with the victims who were being held there and forced into prostitution by those Mr. Parker killed, my office determined that those deaths were the only way those people could be safely rescued from their imprisonment. No charges against Mr. Parker in that matter will be filed by my office.

"I see." replied the Judge. "Mr. Parker!" Spider stood along with Jennifer and Steve.

"Yes your honor."

"You have been charged with twelve counts of Murder in the first degree. These charges if you are convicted of them have a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years apiece up to life without parole. How do you plead?"

"Guilty your honor." Spider said with no hesitation. Jennifer gave a strangled hiss if frustration.

"Miss Walters you have a problem with this?"

"Yes your honor I do. I have been unable to get my client to change his mind on his plea. I know if I could bring this before a jury he wouldn't be convicted but he is adamant about it."

"I see. Mr. Parker I admit to being somewhat confused by this as well. Are you opposed to a trial by a jury of your peers?"

"Yes and no your honor."

"Please explain."

"I would have no qualms facing my peer's judgment. However it is not necessary. I did commit the murders I am charged with. Any group of my peers would not be able to truthfully say otherwise. However they would have to also view the video evidence of my Wife's and Aunt's deaths as well as the video of my actions that I presented to the court. I would not inflict that on any of my peers if I can prevent it. There is also the possibility that my peers after seeing that video would be inclined to sacrifice their personal integrity in order to hand down a verdict that would free me. I will not be responsible for that."

"Do you not believe that they would see that as their choice to make and their burden to take responsibility for?"

"Yes they would. I am, however, responsible for the choice to put it before them in the first place. I will not do it. My plea remains the same."

"Very well. Mrs. Burns what sentencing is the prosecution requesting?"

"Your Honor we request the minimal sentencing possible as allowed by law."

"Understood. Mr. Parker you have pled guilty and are thereby convicted of twelve counts of first degree murder. You are to be sentenced to the minimal mandated length of twenty years per count in a maximum security penitentiary."

"Your Honor!" Jennifer spoke up.

"Yes Miss Walters?"

"I do have a request to make in regards to the sentencing."

"Miss Walters you know as well as I do that the twenty years per count is the absolute minimum that is mandated by law."

"Yes your Honor it is. But the location isn't mandated by law. You have leeway in where the sentence is carried out. It is my belief that putting my client in any facility where there are inmates he has helped incarcerate is a recipe for disaster and riots in any such facility. Therefore I request that his sentence be carried out at Avengers Mansion. They can guarantee maximum security detention on him and an agent of the court may inspect at any time to verify his status."

"Mr. Rogers, this is a somewhat unusual request. Do you as the leader of the Avengers agree with this and promise to oversee his detention?"

"I do you Honor. If you allow us we will pledge to oversee his safe and humane detention on the grounds of the Avenger Compound until his sentence is complete or he receives a parole or pardon for his crimes."

"Very well. Mr. Parker you are now under the custody of the Avengers for the duration of your incarceration. Do you have any questions regarding your sentencing?"

"No your Honor. I understand."

"Then the case of New York vs. Peter Parker is closed. Mr. Rogers take charge of your prisoner." As the judge departed the DA approached Spider. Jennifer quickly stepped in front as if the idea of protecting him from a regular human wasn't ludicrous.

"Miss Walters" DA Burns said. "Please I need to speak with Mr. Parker." It was perhaps the tears in her eyes that caused the She Hulk to step out of the way.

"Mr. Parker I…"

"Mrs. Burns I am very sorry for what I put you through." Spider broke into her obvious grief. His statement visibly shocked her.

"You're sorry?" she said in disbelief. "Mr. Parker I just had you put away for two hundred and forty years! How can you possibly be apologizing to me?"

"Because in order to do your job you had to view all the video I provided and it has hurt you deeply I can tell. You stood up and did what the law demanded even though your compassion for me and my family ripped you apart inside. I am sorry you were put through that pain."

"Oh God!" she wailed and collapsed in her chair and broke down into sobs.

"Jennifer why don't you help her." Spider asked the She Hulk. "Steve is capable of taking me out. I won't cause any problems. Come on Steve let's go." and Spider, escorted by Captain America, proceeded down the aisle while the men and women on both sides faced the aisle and stood stiff and still, as if they were honor guards at a royal procession, as Spider left to begin his incarceration.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

SPIDERMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN SLAYINGS

Peter Parker convicted in the recent rash of villain slayings

"Mr. President!" the Prime Minister of Japan was very agitated. "The Emperor himself has directed me to personally contact you and inform you of our nation's displeasure at the incarceration of the hero known as Spiderman."

"I understand your displeasure Mr. Prime Minister, but our laws have to be upheld."

"Stop right there! You and I know that prisoners that have been rightfully convicted are pardoned as a matter of course in both our countries. As things stand right now we are well aware that Spiderman broke off his vendetta to help our country once again drive off Godzilla! Without his aid we would have lost a great many people this time. The Emperor himself has declared him a national hero for his actions. His continued incarceration will put severe diplomatic strains on our relationship."

"I understand. But you must know that the United States can't be seen to break down to political pressure on this."

"That is why no one but you and I are involved in this call. There will be no public loss of face involved. Do what you know is right and it helps us both. Keep things the way they are and both our countries will suffer."

"I will take your words under advisement." The President sighed as the call ended. Steve Rogers had already met with him personally and revealed all the details of what had been done to and by Peter Parker. Steve Rogers was a man the President had respected greatly and from him he learned that Peter Parker as Spiderman had saved this world and others countless times out of a sense of responsibility. The obvious respect and admiration for the man in Steve Rogers's voice spoke eloquently of how much he thought the current situation, while technically correct, was a miscarriage of justice. How he had hated sending him away with that look of disappointment in his eyes. Then his closest aid and advisor entered his office.

"Jack I know you believe in the law. Hell you're the only President who has never issued a Presidential pardon unless there was overwhelming proof that a person was innocent of the crimes they were convicted of. But you might want to rethink the Parker case.

"Why? The man turned in overwhelming proof of his crimes. There was no choice available but to convict him. I cannot pardon him without throwing out the laws I'm supposed to be enforcing as the Chief of the Executive Branch." His frustration welled up as he weighed personal values against what he saw as the duties and responsibilities of his office.

"The People Jack, that's why. The people who are ultimately responsible for you being where you are in this government of the people by the people and for the people. The people are rising up over this Jack. It started in California. Parker was there when the quake hit. Rescue workers lost count of how many people were pulled from the rubble that would have died had he not been there. There are hours and hours of footage of him there and the news stations are running all the best bits of it. It's not staying in California either. Stories of his heroics are being splashed all across the news from coast to coast. The voices speaking out against his conviction are growing louder every second. The demonstrations in his support are growing as well and turning ugly if anyone dares dissent. In New York Wilson Fisk was overheard saying Parker deserved far worse that he got and the crowd beat him to death before the police could even get close enough to pull them off of him. In my personal opinion Jack, for what it's worth, not only is giving him a pardon the only way to calm the riots it's the right thing to do."

"All right Andy. Call me a press conference and let's hope this really is the right thing to do."

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

PRESIDENTIAL PARDON FREES SPIDERMAN!

"My X-Men, report to my office at once!" Professor Xavier's mental voice rang out to every one of his students. As they gathered they were surprised to find him in conference with Thor. When they had all arrived Thor spoke.

"Hail Heroes known as X-Men. I am here as an emissary from the All Father Odin. He has requested thine presence in Asgard. Wilst thou travel there with me?"

"May we know the nature of his need for us?" Professor Xavier asked.

"Nay. He hath forbade me to speak of that. However thou hast my personal word that there is no danger to thee or thine students. This is not a call to combat."

"We are no strangers to combat. Nor are we unwilling to aid Asgard should the need arise but knowing this is not a call to combat lets us know how to prepare for the trip." Xavier assured the God of Thunder.

"Aye well said. I meant no aspersions against thee or thine." Thor replied.

"Then as opportunities to visit Asgard are few and far between and peaceful visits even more rare, we agree." Without further ado the X-Men gathered together and Thor swung his enchanted hammer Mjollnir and teleported them all to Mythical Asgard.

That scene was repeated again and again as heroes far and near were approached and asked to heed the call of Odin by agents of Asgard. There were no refusals. Thor himself carried Sue Richards as he brought the FF in. While he left to make his last stop, Asgardian healers attended Sue and Reed Richards promising them that by the time they left their health would be markedly improved.

"Avengers Assemble!" Thor's voice reverberated through the halls of Avengers Mansion. Well trained the team gathered quickly ready for just about any emergency. Spider, who had stayed at the Mansion after his pardon, reported as well. While he very seldom went on missions with the Avengers he never refused them if they needed his aid.

"What's going on Thor?" Captain America took charge, prepared to lead his team into action.

"Relax my friends. I needed thou here urgently but there is no emergency to contend with." Everyone relaxed at this news. "Odin hast requested our presence in Asgard."

"You need us all to go there but there is no emergency?" Iron Man asked. Spider meanwhile turned and walked to the door.

"Aye! Odin has personally requested all of us to attend him. Most importantly thee Spider!" Thor added quickly to halt Spider's departure.

"I hope you will forgive me if another trip to Asgard is not high on my list of things I would prefer to do." Spider said.

"Aye my friend. I do understand thine reluctance. I have been instructed to humbly beseech thine presence above all others however. Please make this journey with us." Thor had walked to Spider as he said this and reached a hand out to him in invitation. Reluctantly Spider took Thor's hand in a firm clasp.

"All right. I don't really have anything else to lose anymore anyway."

"And the rest of you?" Thor addressed the rest of the team.

"Of course we'll go." Captain America said. They gathered around and Thor took them to the shining realm of Asgard!

Spider appeared in a massive arena standing on a platform with Thor. In the stands was the largest gathering of heroes he had seen since the Beyonder had gathered his forces for his Secret War. Before he had a chance to do more than take in their surroundings, Odin appeared on the platform with them.

"Greeting Heroes of Midgard!" said the All Father in a resounding voice that was clearly heard by all. "Thou hast been asked here to participate in the third trial of the man now known simply as Spider but who you knew and fought beside as Spiderman." Spider looked up at the All Father in surprise at this pronouncement, but took it in stride. Others in the audience did not however. Jennifer Walter's in particular was very vocal in her displeasure. "Peace Heroes!" Odin called. "Spider has indeed already been judged twice. Once by Thor in the matter of the Thunderstrike mace. And once by the government of his land for the acts he committed. Now his final trial will be a trial of you his peers. I have a heavy decision to make and I will need your judgment of him before I can make it. But know ye that I will not compel you in this task. If there are any here who refuse to learn the full truth of his story and offer their honest opinion on it speak now and you shall be returned to Midgard forthwith." There were still mumblings of discontent but no one spoke up except Spider.

"No Odin. Please don't inflict that on them." he said emotions thick in his voice.

"This is their choice to make this time. Both you and I need to know what can be found out here today." Odin raised his hands and light emerged from them and flowed out to each of the assembled heroes. "Behold the life of this man! From his earliest days to the time of his last journey here to Asgard. Live it as he hast and then waken!" and all the heroes seemed to sink into an entranced slumber as they experienced the life of Peter Parker. They lived his life as if they were a visitor hiding in the back of his mind privy to all his thoughts, emotions, and feelings. They experienced everything from; the death of his parents, to the gaining of his powers and the loss of his Uncle Ben, his dedication to responsibility he took from that event, and how he had used his power ever since. When they awoke no one looked at the man standing in between the two Gods with anything but respect and admiration. His dedication to doing the right thing and his sheer refusal to give up even when everything seemed lost, and by doing so save the day, earned the respect of all present. "Now thou shall see that which will trouble thy souls greatly. In order to truly judge this man thou must also live through what was done to his loved ones. This is your last chance to avoid this, for it will be torturous beyond reason. It may break some of you." there were many looks of nervous fear and gasps as shaky resolve was gathered but not a single hero asked to leave. "Verily well." Odin said as he again stretched his hands forth. This time though it was sheer darkness that emerged and embraced the heroes. Just as they had lived his life with Spider they now lived the deaths of Mary Jane and May from the moment they saw the news reports on Peter's alter ego to their last moments of life. Reactions were varied this time. Some went into a rage and had to be restrained physically. Some broke into helpless weeping and others were simply numbed and stared at nothing with horrified expressions. The light emerged from Odin's hands again and soothed the tortured minds of the heroes until they all regained rational thought again. Regardless of their initial reaction there wasn't a single dry eye among them as they now looked at the man who stood on the platform. Much as he wanted to Spider would not look away from their eyes. He was responsible for their having lived his nightmare and he would not look away. "And now you know the past. Thou will now experience the life of this man from the time he last left Asgard to the present. Afterward shall yee be asked for thy judgment." Again the light flooded out from Odin. Again the heroes lived the life of Peter Parker, and through his tragedy, his transformation into the being known only as Spider. They lived with him as he accepted his work and finished it by fully accepting his role in it and submitting to the decisions of authority. They lived through it all and awoke again. "Now then you all know the truth of this matter as no other possibly could. Now is the time for thine judgment of this man. I ask all of you to stand that are able." All the heroes stood their focus on the man on the platform. Spider lowered his eyes unwilling to influence their decision by even a look and awaited this, the verdict of his peers. "This is not a trial of his actions, those are already known. Neither is this a trail of the right or wrong of those actions. This is a trial of the man himself and how you the assembled heros of his realm view him. All ye who would stand by this man leave your seats and enter the arena to do so. Those who would not, retake your seats and stay where you are. Make your choice now." Spider could hear movement but was unable to tell over the noise of a sudden gust of wind blowing through the arena how many where moving and how many sitting. When the wind died down there was no noise to be heard. Spider kept his eyes on his feet not wanting to see the people he admired and respected seated in the stands. He felt the gentle hands of Odin and Thor placed on his shoulders and Odin spoke to him. "Thy life hast been one of courage and bravery. Do thou have enough left to look up and see their verdict?" Odin asked and Spider sighed.

"No I don't. But after what they have gone through because of me I have to." and he looked up to the stands and found them completely empty! His eyes lowered and took in the heroes standing around the platform. The bonds of ice that had encased his heart for so long now cracked but even this show of respect and support couldn't break them. "Thank You. Thank you all." he told them. Then he turned to Odin. "Have you found out what you needed to know?"

"Aye I have. I have made my decision and will ask of ye two more sacrifices."

"More? What more could I give other than my life?"

"Nay I dost not want thy life. I ask of thee two things. The spore from thine symbiote that it gave thee before the two of you merged into one being and the lock of hair from thine wife, that had been pulled from her scalp by her tormentors, which thy keep next to thine heart always." Spider trembled at these requests and his voice shook as he asked.

"Those are all I have left of who I was. Are they truly required?" he asked with his hand over his heart.

"Aye" Odin said gently. "They will, if thou freely choose to give them up, make the difference between life and death for an innocent and through that innocent countless others." Spider pulled the two items from his pockets and looked at them.

"Power and Responsibility" he said to himself more than anyone else. "They never grow any lighter do they?"

"Nay they do not." Thor answered him. Spider felt the bands of ice grow ever thicker about his heart as he gently kissed the lock of Mary Jane's hair and then turned to Odin and thrust them out to him.

"Take them." Spider would have turned away but he couldn't take his eyes off the blood crusted lock of his wife's hair. Odin carefully wrapped the lock of hair around the symbiote spore and then let his power flow into them. The lock of hair sank into the symbiote spore and it began to glow with its own light. It rose from Odin's hand and floated in midair as it slowly grew and lengthened and gradually took on a humanoid appearance. When the glow finally dimmed the sight before him hit Spider like a blow from the Hulk! There standing before him appeared to be Mary Jane! He took a single step toward her feeling the ice around his heart creak but then stopped as he realized the body before him was motionless and unbreathing. "It's not alive. Less alive than even a statue." he said in a voice that was colder than it had ever been.

"Aye it isn't." Odin replied. "If I were to breathe life into it now it would be no more than a blank slate." Turning his head Odin called out in a mighty voice. "Brunnhilde! Bring her to me!" In the distance a winged steed carrying a rider rose into the air. Swiftly it winged its way toward them. With a fierce beating of its wings horse and rider alit in a spot cleared for them by the crowd of heroes. The rider now revealed as one of the Valkyries leapt to the platform and stood before Odin with a glowing sphere in her hands.

"Is that…" Spider started to ask but couldn't finish his eyes riveted on the sphere.

"Aye." was all Odin said.

"How?" Spider asked.

"Brunnhilde is the reason. The Valkyries are drawn to battle that they may bring the souls of the slain they deem worthy here to the halls of Valhalla. There the souls await the coming of Ragnarok when they will fight for Asgard itself in the final battle. Your wife waged a mighty battle! Oh not of the flesh, no. She had no hope there, but a battle of the Spirit! Every act her killers took against her was designed to make her hate you as the ultimate cause of her suffering. In this they failed! They could break and kill her body but her love for you was stronger than their evil. It was this battle that Brunnhilde sensed and when your wife breathed her last Brunnhilde gathered her spirit in gentle hands and brought it to me, knowing I would find it worthy of a spot in Valhalla. Indeed with such a soul in my armies of Asgard on that final day, the unknown fates might very well be changed and the Fabled Realm of Asgard might overcome its perils and live on. But, it has been shown to me today that there is a better place for this soul. Instead of keeping it here in Valhalla I place it in this empty shell like so." Odin took the sphere from the Valkyrie and gently placed it against the breast of the motionless figure and with a gentle wash of light from him it slowly entered the body. A subtle change came over the body. Now instead of looking like a lifeless statue it appeared to be a living body frozen in between one breath and the next. "All that remains is the breath of life, and that I now offer." Odin leaned down and gently breathed into the body. Its chest expanded with it and held there for an eternal moment.

"Breathe Mary Jane." Spider said, his own body straining to help her, unaware he had spoken aloud. Then the body exhaled the breath sharply and started a slow regular breathing pattern. Spider fell to his knees in front of her, the bands of ice around his heart creaking and moaning under the emotional stress. When her eyes flashed open and he was pierced with those brilliant green eyes he saw intelligence there and hope flared! "Mary Jane?" he dared ask. A dazzling smile broke out on her face when she answered him.

"Face it Tiger, You just hit the Jackpot!" Mary Jane told him and the bands of ice around his heart shattered and fell away. Tears filled his eyes and he couldn't move to go to her, but he didn't need to as she came to him and they were in each others arms and nothing else mattered.

When their embrace ended it was Peter Parker who stood and helped his wife to her feet. Holding her close to him he turned to Odin.

"I can't repay you… I can't possibly do anything for you to equal what you've given me."

"Peter Parker thou hast already earned this miracle."

"But how?"

"I asked thee for everything thou had left that held any meaning to thee. I asked for more than even a God has a right to. I asked for what thy could not possibly be expected to give away, in the cause of an innocent I would not name. Thou made that sacrifice openly and willingly to help another. The innocent standing there in your arms is who thine sacrifice saved."

"I knew you would save me somehow." Mary Jane said softly in his ear. "Thank you Peter for saving me." Peter broke down and wept in her arms as the hideous ball of guilt at not being there to save her broke and drained away with her words. Mary Jane simply held her husband and marveled that anyone who could earn the respect and admiration of the Gods themselves could love her so completely.

The occasion sparked one hell of a party. All the heroes had moved to the palace and begun to mingle as the mead flowed freely. Peter and Mary Jane moved through the milling earth heroes and thanked them for their support of Peter. They discovered that the assembled heroes only had the vaguest recollection of the memories they had been given, but they firmly recalled their decisions to support Peter as a result of the knowledge they had briefly held. And they were overjoyed that they had been instrumental in even a small way in Mary Jane's return from the dead. Eventually Peter and Mary Jane found themselves in front of Odin once again. Thor and the Lady Sif stood at his side. Peter faced Thor.

"When you came to the mansion I spoke harshly. I'm sorry for that."

"Nay. Apologize not for that my friend for I paid no heed to thy words in the least for I understood their cause."

"Odin when you said my sacrifice would mean the life and death of an innocent and through that person countless others, who were the others you spoke of?"

"Why I spoke of the innocents that she will save of course!" Odin said.

"I will save?" Mary Jane said stunned.

"Indeed. The symbiote spore I merged with thy DNA to make your new body was a true child of the symbiote Peter merged with. Thou are now a human/symbiote merger now just like thine husband."

"You mean I …" Mary Jane broke off and focused on something strange that she hadn't had time to think about yet. In seconds the clothing she was wearing shifted until she was in a black body suit with gold eyes and spider emblems front and back. Her mask left her nose and mouth free and allowed her red hair to flow free. "Wow! Am I able to do all the other things he can as well?" she asked.

"Almost." Odin answered her, pleased with her enthusiasm. "Thou didst not have the base strength coming into the merger that thine husband did so thy strength is only about two thirds what his currently is. All other abilities should have been granted you through the symbiotes. In addition I believe you will both be able to sense each other from great distances through the symbiotes that are part of you now."

"It's true I can feel Peter. And I can tell he isn't pleased with the thought of me putting myself in harm's way. Well now you know how I felt all this time Tiger. He is however very pleased that I have the outer strength to defend myself now." She looked at Peter. "I know you are going to be uneasy with me joining you but I have to be just as responsible with the power I now have as you have always been with yours." Peter's love for her shown in his eyes and flowed into her through their new sense of each other.

"I never thought I could love you more, but now I do. Yes I am scared of losing you again. I will never stop living with that fear. But I can't tell you not to help others. I do insist that you get some serious combat training before you hit the streets though."

"I will teach her if it would please thee." Lady Sif spoke up.

"There are none who could train her better and few that would even do as well." said Thor.

"That would be great but how would she get back and forth from earth to Asgard for lessons."

"That shall not be a problem." Thor answered. "I have asked the Lady Sif if she will accompany me and join in my adventures on Midgard. She has agreed and will join the Avengers rooster." As Thor finished this statement Steve Rogers stepped closer.

"And we are proud to have her on the team." Steve said with a bow to the Lady Sif and Odin. "Speaking of team membership Peter I'm hoping you will join us and become a full time member as well. You too Mary Jane as soon as you finish your training of course." Husband and wife looked at each other and communed through their new link. Suddenly Peter's clothes melted into his Spider suit and the white of his eyes and spider emblems changed to a gleaming metallic silver to both match and stand apart from the metallic gold of Mary Jane's.

"That sounds perfect to us Steve." Spiderman said. "Think you can find a room for us in the mansion?"

"I'm sure we can find a corner you can camp out in." Steve said with a smile. And with smiles of their own Spiderman and his wife Arachnae rejoined the party.

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

SPIDERMAN AND ARACHNAE TEAM UP TO FOIL BANK ROBBERY

Spiderman and his new partner Arachnae save hostages from lethal trap and capture Vertigo.


End file.
